Perfect Synergy
by LoveInChains
Summary: The story of a girl who rough housed with the boys, hated all the girls, and fell in love with a mousy boy who graduated from Harvard at 15. And you could say she had a certain "spark" about her. Subtle Romance. Alex & Sean Bromance. Beast/OC, slight Mystique/OC, implied Cherik
1. Chapter 1

**Perfect Synergy**

_"Every time the wind blows I think of her. I wonder if I could generate electricity off my yearning" _- Jarod Kintz

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><p>Most people in the world today will never experience something that they can't explain with logic. I'm glad I can truthfully say that I am not one of those people. I had the unique opportunity to work with the most dedicated and colorful, if not abnormal, characters I have ever had the pleasure to become acquainted with. On some level, these abnormal characters became my family. A family of screechers, of boys who can't seem to stay out of other peoples' business, of boys who can't always control themselves, of boys who quite enjoy hanging upside down from whatever they can. And of girls who can't decide who they are or where they belong and can't accept that they are most beautiful without all the gimmicks. Looking back at it now I realize that we were like any bunch of siblings, dysfunctional, loud, and neurotic when we were left all alone.<p>

Even with how everything turned out I wouldn't change any moment of the few months we spent together for anything. Not even for the certainty that I would live. You just can't replace or ignore some things. I'm proud to say that our little renegade was, and still is, one of those experiences that will stick with me forever. Funny, looking back to the day I met what you could call the "parents" of our little family, I nearly forgot how I... Well, it's sort of hard to explain. Let me just tell you the whole story of how I met the X-Men.

I was like any other girl in Maine during the Cold War. Bomb shelters were a place I called home, I went to an all girl boarding school, I had an overbearing mother who on several occasions attempted to dress me up in billowy gowns and enter me in beauty pageants, I had five brothers who had definitely influenced my tomboy personality over the years. And I had a secret that I couldn't tell anyone. As I sat in the courtyard of my pompous school, with my only friend to witness anything I did, I decided to practice my 'secret'. Much to my friends distaste.

"Maxine! Cut that out, it's not normal!" She pleaded, motioning to what I was doing with my fingers with a desperate look.

The action in and of itself wasn't out of the ordinary; I was simply rubbing the pads of my index and my middle finger against the pad of my thumb. No, the sparks that were jumping from my skin was what she was talking about. Ever since I was eight, possibly nine, I had been able to generate small electrical currents with my fingers. With more practice I learned that if I rubbed my fingers together for a long period of time I could charge more energy and that I could seemingly 'steal' electricity from nearby electrical sources. Lights, machinery, cars, you name it. I found my gift to be extremely cool, but not Julie, the nervous girl edging away from me. Sometimes I regretted telling her about it, other times I'm glad I had someone to at least try and hinder me from my devious tendencies. Extra emphasis on _try_.

I smiled at her just then. "It's not that weird, Jules. I'm like one of those guys from carnivals that can shallow fire. Just a little something I can use as an icebreaker in any awkward conversation." In part, this was true. Of the few 'relationships' I've been in they all started with me showing the boys involved a magic trick. They were always amazed, without fail, and then when we kissed there was always that... spark. I smirked just thinking about it.

My friend didn't look convinced. "B-but that's not a trick! You can do that all on your own, no smoke and mirrors involved!"

I rolled my eyes and continued to charge my fingers. No harm had come from my little parlour trick, and I secretly hoped that it never would. Finally, after producing enough energy to cause our hair to stick on end, Jules became too fed up with my oddness.

"It's late. I'm going to bed." She grabbed her books with an adamant tone, made sure her skirt was in place, and ran towards the dormitories. With one last sad smile to her odd friend, Jules was gone.

I was completely and utterly alone. My only company was the sparks in my hand and the light post next to me. I looked up at the bright light with an anxious feeling in my stomach. How long had it been since I had a cigarette? Too long. I reached behind the bench I was sitting at, grabbed my paperboy bag, dug my hand into a secret compartment I sewed into the lining, and pulled out my pack of Camels and my trusty military zippo from World War II. I plucked one of the white treasures from its spot in the carton, placed it between my lips as I lit it, and took a nice long drag. Screw people telling me that they were bad for me, there was no proof of that. They tasted good and they made me feel good. I puffed out three perfect rings before exhaling the rest of the smoke. That's when I felt it. The distinct sensation of a pair of eyes boring into the back of your head. My back went rigid. For the first time in my life, I wished Headmistress Saffron was the one standing behind me, busting me for smoking on school grounds again. But the feeling in my stomach told me that I wouldn't be graced with that pleasure. Slowly, I turned around. There was not one person watching me, but two, both men, and both plenty of years older than me. One, who was considerably taller than the other, was propped up against a tree while the other just stood ten feet in front of me with a smile on his face. I felt the electricity beginning to charge itself within me, giving me a lethal weapon if I needed one. _Never be caught off guard_. I reminded myself.

"Good evening, my name is Charles Xavier." The man closest to me said calmly. Charles was of an average size, unlike his companion, but they both had brown hair and blue eyes. He walked towards me with his hand extended. I didn't trust it. I jumped back off the bench and into the path leading to the main building of the school. My cigarette fell from my lips in the process, deciding it was a lost cause I crushed it underneath the heel of my boot. Charles's companion scoffed from the tree he was leaning against.

'_Who are these guys_?' Was the first thing I thought to myself. '_They dress like they're the freaking Mafia, but they stalk girls in the courtyards of this cruddy rundown school_?'

The smaller one, Charles, chuckled. "We're not with the Mafia. I assure you, you have nothing to fear from Erik or myself. We simply came here to ask you a few questions." He offered me a kind smile but I still didn't trust him. He was assuring me of things I hadn't even spoken aloud! If anything that just made me distrust him more.

His companion, who I guessed to be Erik, groaned from his spot against the tree. "Charles, I'm tired of this and would like to get back to D.C. before dawn breaks. Can we please hurry this along?"

"Yes, as soon as Maxine here stops charging herself with enough electricity to power a small town." Charles said calmly to his friend.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't shocked by what Charles had just said. How could he have possibly known what I was doing? Or my name for that matter?

'_Because, dear Maxine, I can read your mind_.' A voice echoed in my head. For a brief moment I was completely dumbfounded by the voice that was not my own whispering things inside my head. Ironically, it sounded familiar. I looked around to see if anyone had joined us because it was clear that no one uttered a word past closed lips. That's when my eyes settled back on Charles who had two fingers placed on his temple. I cracked an unsure smile as he waved a bit with the fingers not touching his head. _Is this guy a freak show like me?_

'_I am, indeed. Thought I wouldn't quite call what we can do something so simple as a carnival_ _trick_.' He chuckled inside my mind. '_Do you trust me enough to dispel the energy you have gathered and to stop coming up with ridiculous theories how Erik and I are sexual predators or anything of the sort?_' Charles's voice asked.

If he had known about the sexual predator theory then he probably could delve deeper into my mind and I did not like the thought of that. I gave a small nod. '_As long as your friend stays where he is and you don't go searching through my head anymore. Agreed_?'

In front of me, Charles smiled and clapped his hands together. "Agreed." He said aloud, removing his fingers from his temple, "Seeing as Erik is extremely tired after our long day I'm going to cut right to it, shall we? You wondered if I was different," _h__adn't quite said different but I'll give you that, _"and I assured you that I am, indeed, different. There are several people on this planet like us, people who possess extraordinary gifts. Some use their powers for good, and others for rather nefarious purposes. That is why Erik and I have sought you out. We're putting together a team of people who will use their powers for good in hopes that we can stop a man from starting World War III and we were wondering if you would help us."

"Well that's quite a bit of information to wrap my head around..." I admitted truthfully. Just a minute ago I had thought these two guys were rapists or something, and now they're asking me to join a team of people with extraordinary powers to help stop a man from starting World War III? A girl has the right to be taken aback. I sat back down on the bench as I felt my knees beginning to give out. Charles took the seat beside me. He didn't look expectant or anything. It seemed as if he genuinely cared about me.

Erik groaned again. "Just say yes or tell us to fuck off like the last guy did." His crude statement got him a small glare from Charles, but he quickly looked back at me.

"You need to understand that you can tell no one about this, not your parents, not your friends, absolutely no one. If you do decide to come with us you will have to be taken out of school indefinitely and I will have to tutor you until you can return." He paused to take a breath but I interrupted him.

"Say no more. I'm in." I said with an unwavering confidence. The chance to finally get out of the nasty all girls school I was a prisoner of? Hell yes. I couldn't stand that place.

Charles gave me an incredulous look. "Are you sure? You wouldn't be able to see your friends for, possibly, a long period of time; you understand that, don't you?"

I gave him the same exact look he gave me, but with sass. How I loved sass. "The only friends I have are my five brothers, the boys back home, and the guys I went to school with for a short while back when I was thirteen. I won't miss this wretched place one bit."

That got me a laugh from him. "Splendid. But before we shove off I'd like to see your gift in action. And I'm sure Erik would as well." Charles said with interest. And true to his word, Erik suddenly became a bit more alert to the conversation occurring in front of him. I smiled. It was nice to be around people who weren't completely and utterly terrified of what dwelled inside of you.

"Well... I guess it couldn't hurt to show off a little. Good thing I didn't listen to you when you asked me to dispel the energy I had collected or I wouldn't be able to do anything moderately impressive with my 'gift'." I gave Charles a playful wink before standing up and walking towards the middle of the courtyard. Now that I think about it, the courtyard wasn't so much a court as it was a yard. It was a moderate sized patch of grass in the centre of the school with a sidewalk intersecting four times to the four different buildings and the only thing you could do there was study or climb the three trees that decorated the area. And being an all girl school, rarely were those trees climbed. It wasn't very interesting, which was why no one ever really thought to hang out there.

But there I was, standing at the intersection, with two men I barely knew, one I half trusted and one I slightly feared, charged to the brim with electrical power. The smile playing at the corner of my lips was my natural reaction to all of the power inside of me. I hated to admit it, but I loved what I could do. And now I had a chance to show off with no restrictions applied. I yanked one of the hair ties off of my wrist and pulled my hair up into a sloppy bun. _Let's get this party started._

First, I had to focus the energy. If I just let it go without any control I could short out half of the east coast in a matter of seconds. _Been there, fried that._ I focused the energy equally throughout my body, causing a powerful electrical field to surround me. I exhaled a held breath, rolled my shoulders, and slowly let electricity out of my body. The sparks began to jump off of my skin, though the energy mostly remained in the palms of my hands, which I raised until my forearms made a perfect right angle with my biceps. Slowly, I lifted off of the ground. The power of my electrical field and the one that naturally encompassed the Earth repulsed each other. I had done this a few times in the past. It was one of my favourite things about my gift, the power of flight. I focused on the energy, letting out just a bit more.

That's when it got exciting.

All around us lights were flickering. Stems of lightning seemingly passed between the circuits that ran through the school and the energy in my hands. In front of me, Erik and Charles stood with astounded expressions on their faces, Charles' was more evident than Erik's but I didn't expect anything less or more from them. Content with the spectacle I just performed I allowed the energy to flow back into the school, successfully lowering me back to the ground and expelling most of the energy I had conducted. Charles rushed to me, grasping my hand in his. I chuckled slightly when Charles's hair began to stick out due to the static still around me. Little Einstein.

He looked at me with amazement. "Splendid. Absolutely stunning! You will be a great addition to our team of mutants!" He shook my hand vigorously. I arched an eyebrow at the word mutant. Once he saw my, once again, incredulous look, he explained, "The technical term for people like us is mutants. But don't think of it as an insult, mutation brought us from single celled organisms into the single most dominant species on this planet. We are just the next step in human evolution." With that explanation I felt less like a freak. Not really. I was happy as I was, smiling all the while. Erik came up and clapped me on the back.

"Great to have you." He said with a shadow of a smile. That was the most emotion I had ever seen on his face. But then it hit me.

"So... if you're with Charles, and Charles is a part of the mutant team, are you a mutant too?" I asked.

Erik gave another shadow of a smile before reaching his hand out towards the lamp post. Slowly, he clenched his fist and the metal of the lamp post began to buckle in on itself. It was a simple action. I assumed he had mastered his gift long ago, that's why he could execute it with such ease.

"I'll take that as a yes." I chuckled lightly.

"Now that we have that all settled, Maxine, you should go pack." Charles said, motioning towards the dormitories.

"Yeah, before someone comes and expects me to pay for Erik's destruction of that lamp post." I winked and started towards the dorm but decided to correct something while I was still there. I turned back to Charles. "I prefer Max, if you don't mind." With a curt nod from him and a smile from me I ran towards the dormitories, ecstatic for the adventure that would unfold once I finally left Saffron's All Girls Boarding School.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Much thanks for You May Call Me Goddess - Bitch Goddess, for beta reading <em>Perfect Synergy<em>!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Perfect Synergy**

"_Affections are like lightning: you cannot tell where they will strike till they have fallen." _– Lee Iacocca

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><p>It was crazy, in a span of no more than fifteen minutes my life had completely changed. No longer was I the delinquent of an all girls' school. No longer was I the tomboy who swore like a sailor and had the breasts of a twelve year old. Who was I kidding? I would always be a tomboy at heart, and I would never filter my mouth for nobody! And my boobs aren't progressing anytime soon. But the point is that there were many things in my life that I was pretty sure I would never become, a nurse, a chef, a princess, and most certainly not a super secret CIA agent. Yet, there I was. Standing in front of the blah blah blah study of supernatural something for defense or something like that; I never did learn the full name of that organization of the CIA. It was a fairly modern building, consisting of simple architectural shapes and designs, lacking any color, but it practically oozed secrecy. I was sure there was going to be some things that I would see or witness in there for which I would never get a straight answer. Conspiracy is always a hot topic.<p>

At that exact moment I couldn't care less. I was free from the bitches of my boarding school forever! And as I was about to jump out of my skin from happiness I felt a presence in my mind attempting to calm me down. I turned on my heel to glare at Charles, who was kindly getting my nap sack out of the trunk of the sedan that had picked us up from the airport. He gave me a mischievous smile as he pulled his paperboy bag out. I harrumphed very stereotypically, and then I yanked my bag from his grubby telepathic hands and swung it over my shoulder.

"Grubby? Now that was uncalled for." Charles said to me with a smile, assuring me that he wasn't offended by my choice of words...thoughts... _Man,_ I thought, _this is going to take a while to get used to_. I stuck my tongue out at Charles, which got me a chuckle.

All jokes aside, I had to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed his company. Over the hours spent on the plane together I learned that Charles was an Oxford grad in molecular mutation, as well as genetics, and had recently been given the title 'Professor'; though he said that I couldn't call him that until he actually had a teaching job somewhere. I also learned that Charles had a younger sister, Raven, who was also a mutant. He made it perfectly clear that Raven was his adopted/foster sister and shared no blood relation. It must've been easier for them, having each other. My family was just full of muscular army guys, nothing out of the ordinary there, and I had no one to turn to when my gift revealed itself. Eventually I had to tell my parents, they didn't shun me or anything, they were just a bit cautious around me for a while. My brothers were all ecstatic and refused to treat me any differently. I guess it could've been worse. So I can't complain about my home life much.

Charles gave my thoughts a nudge with his powers, successfully bringing me back to reality. He placed a calming hand on my shoulder before turning back to the sedan. Erik was still asleep in the back seat. He wasn't lying when he said that he was tired. With a smile on his face, Charles placed two fingers to his temple. Suddenly, Erik woke with a startled expression on his face. Charles tapped twice on the window. The older man scowled slightly at his friend before getting out of the car on the other side. He smoothed out his turtleneck and pulled his brown leather jacket back into place, which had attempted to escape his arms while he slept. Quickly and calmly, he grabbed his briefcase from the trunk, slammed it shut, and started towards the CIA building in front of them. Charles and I looked at each other and chuckled respectively. Erik sure was a sight to see.

"We should be getting inside; I have a meeting to attend to with the director of the CIA in just a few moments." Charles said with his fingers still placed against his temple. Was he reading my mind? Just as that thought passed through my head Charles removed his fingers and smiled at me. "My sister is coming this way. She should be here soon to show you to your room to change and meet the others."

I nodded my understanding and watched him walk into the building as well. Charles had taken the time on the plane to tell me about the other young mutants I would meet. There was Angel Salvadore, a girl that they found at a strip club, Sean Cassidy, a boy who seemed like an average, if not impulsive, guy, Alex Summers, who they found in a high security prison, Armando Muños, a New York City taxi driver, and Hank McCoy, one of the CIA's youngest researchers. They all seemed like a pretty unique bunch. I couldn't wait to meet them. But first I had to wait for Raven. I looked at my watch, 11:01 PM. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to wait long; but long enough for me to have a few drags would be fine.

I sat down on the curb next to the black sedan and reached into my bag for a smoke. I had packed all of the packs that I owned, but there seemed to only be two in my bag. _Damn that Charles!_ I plucked out one of my baby's, lit it, and sucked deeply. There was no better feeling in the world than lungs full of whatever was in those wonders. Though, I now know that there's rat poison and the sort so perhaps I should stop doing what feels good and start doing what's healthy.

"Aren't those bad for you?"

The sudden presence of someone behind me startled me. I hadn't even exhaled so when trying to speak I choked on the smoke, hacking profusely into the sleeve of my uniform. Whoever was behind me knelt down so we were at about the same eye level and pounded a couple of times on my back. It hurt, but I was able to cough out most of the smoke. I looked to my right. There knelt a beautiful blonde girl in a cute black turtleneck dress. She had subtle green eyes, rosy cheeks, and a charming smile on her face. I had to struggle not to smile back; this girl had induced a choking fit and had then pounded on my back! Yes, she helped me, but she was the one who caused the problem in the first place! Cute face or not I wasn't happy with how these circumstances unfolded!

"I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to scare you!" She laughed slightly. She stood, offering a hand to help me up as she did. I took the helpful hand, still feeling a bit spiteful. "I'm Raven. I'm sure Charles mentioned me."

I was promptly yanked into a standing position. _Strong girl. _I dusted off my black skirt; God, how I hated that thing. I went to take the cigarette out of my mouth when I realized it was on the ground, I groaned. These mutants were hell on my smokes. I stomped on my discarded cigarette, only a bit frustrated. "Yeah, he mentioned you."

There was a brief flash of disbelief on Raven's face before it went back to that pleasant smile. "Oh, you're just being spiteful because you dropped your cigarette."

It was the truth, but I just gave her a sarcastic look. She ignored it, grabbed my hand, and dragged me towards the entrance of the CIA building.

"You're going to love it here! Free food, free room and board, and absolutely _no_ restrictions! The CIA has mostly been leaving us alone and letting us take care of ourselves. Just imagine, open bar, makeovers, and enough ice cream to make us puke! We're going to have a blast!" The bubbly girl practically exploded with excitement. I thought to stop some of her ideas right in their tracks when Raven suddenly stopped and whirled around to face me. "Holy crap, I'm a terrible person! I never even asked you your name!"

Inwardly, I laughed, outwardly, I sighed. "Name's Maxine, though I prefer Max."

Raven gave me a look. "You prefer to be called a boy's name?"

"I have five brothers and I like being one of the guys; something about the liberation, the humbleness, and the pants." I said a bit dryly, motioning to the skirt I hadn't bothered to change out of. I really could be a dumb ass.

Raven laughed as if she had a realization. "Thank God, Angel is so far out there with all that stuff and she encourages me to be the same all the time. Which I do, I'm like that _sooooo_ bad. But I needed a girl on the other end of the spectrum to even it out. Sure, I like to dress girly and all that fun stuff, but I need someone I can just talk to that is female but won't squeal along with me."

We laughed at that statement. Clearly we both had our share of annoying girls. God how I hoped that the other girl I was going to be spending, possibly, months with wasn't as bad as she sounded. Raven correctly read my thoughts; maybe she was a telepath like her brother.

"I'm making her sound a lot worse than she actually is. She's actually really cool." She smiled at me reassuringly and pulled me back in the direction she had started.

Raven pushed open the doors to the building with her shoulder and I was greeted by a large entryway/atrium. It seemed to be just a place where you could get from one place to the other. Men in black suits were crossing the circle entryway, heading up the stairs to our left and right, and chatting avidly with each other. Seemed pretty occupied for it being so late. Overall though, very high class. Raven led me up the shallow staircase in front of us. Our entrance was met by several pairs of eyes studying us quizzically.

I had never felt so objectified in my life.

Did all of the agents here know about our gifts? I was guessing that they did but I didn't want to voice my thoughts. My eyes drifted back to Raven who seemed to be having a splendidly easy time ignoring everyone's curious glances. Her head was directed towards a single door across from us. On the door was a sign with the traditional writing indicating, 'Woman's Bathroom'. Good, because I really had to pee just then. I headed towards the white bathroom, trying not to leak everywhere.

As we approached the door, Raven turned towards me. "I know I was supposed to take you to your room and let you unpack and everything, but I'm really excited to learn everyone's powers and we all swore to keep our individual gifts to ourselves until everyone was present." She paused to make a grand gesture to the room I was so desperate to reach. "So here we are! You can change in here if you want or we can just head straight to the break room."

Seemed doable, and I really wanted to get out of that damn uniform I had been forced to wear for the past two years. "I'll change now, I guess." I tried to say as nonchalantly as I could, which was incredibly difficult with a bladder threatening to explode.

"Great!" Raven clapped excitedly. "I'll wait out here."

I gave my new acquaintance a small smile before pushing open the swinging bathroom door. Man, I was glad that it was empty. There was only one stall in the small powder room and thankfully the swinging door locked. Why have swinging doors to the bathroom in the first place? A question I would never get the answer to. With a shrug I locked the door, dropped my bag underneath the sink, and did my 'business'. Once my hands were washed and dried I thought it was about time that I changed out of the hideous blazer and skirt. First I tugged off the pleated black skirt with a red trim and flung it in the trash. No offence to the skirt I just never liked the feminine heathens. Next came the blazer, in the same colors as the discarded skirt, and the nasty tie that came with it. After further examination, I decided to keep the tie while the blazer followed my horrible skirt into the garbage. With the tie still in hand I then carefully unbuttoned the white shirt I had always been forced to wear underneath the wretched blazer. I didn't really mind the shirt; it was loose and not particularly girly. I then dropped the shirt onto my bag and there I stood, clad in nothing but my underwear. Around my breasts were two rolls of Ace bandages so nothing was exposed.

Why the bandages? No, I still had breasts underneath them I just chose to wrap them to make playing sports much easier. Honestly? Breasts just got in my way. I also didn't like guys staring at my chest, not that there was much to look at anyway. I was barely a 32A. I developed late and didn't develop much when I had. I smirked and returned to my bag to grab the denim shorts and the men's white tank within. The tank went on easily while I had to struggle slightly to get the shorts on. Once the clothes were on I glanced in the fairly large mirror on the wall above the sink. My hip length straight black hair was all frizzy and unkempt. Side effect of my powers, sadly. I groaned and began pulling the electricity that naturally forms around me, when I'm not concentrating, into my skin. My body shook from the charge and my mood instantly improved. Looking back in the mirror, I smiled. My hair had successfully calmed down. Thank God.

But my eyes. _Shit_. They were yellow. They only turned yellow when I was charged with electricity; otherwise they were just a plain old brown. Of all eye colors I could have it would be the most common of them all. I decided though that having yellow eyes when meeting your fellow mutants wasn't advised so I expelled the energy inside of me into the circuits of the base. My mood instantly plummeted. Another side effect of my powers. A nasty one. My now severely exhausted eyes found their reflection once more, assuring me that they had returned to their normal state.

And with that, I was done in the bathroom. I quickly shoved my tie and my white shirt back into my nap sack and tried to go through the swinging bathroom door as I swung my bag over my shoulder. I yelped as my nose connected with the metal obstacle in front of me. I, being the dumb ass that I was, had forgotten to unlock the thing. And also I hadn't even stopped to check, or even push it open with my hand. I literally walked right into it.

"You okay in there?" Raven asked from the other side of the door.

"It's all good!" I said a little too enthusiastically as I unlocked the door and pushed it open. Little did I know that Raven was right in front of the metal death device and it stopped abruptly when it smacked her in the face.

"OW!" She cried. Making sure she had moved, I pushed the door open again to gauge her condition. She leaned against the wall next to the door and was clutching her nose. There was no blood, thank God, but having experienced the same exact thing not seconds ago I knew that it hurt like a bitch.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay? I didn't think you were right on the other side of the door." She looked at me with tears forming in her eyes. They weren't really tears of pain as much as the nose was just extremely sensitive and any slight disturbance induced tears. I could also tell that she wasn't in too much pain because when she took a good look at me she started laughing.

"Your nose is all red!" Raven said before bubbling over with laughter.

With a closer look to Raven's face you could see the blood starting to rush to her nose. I found myself laughing with the girl I had smacked in the face. All around us people were staring. I leaned against one of the columns that supported the second floor walkway in an attempt to avoid judgmental eyes. And yet our laughter never ceased. Well, eventually it did. I couldn't exactly live out the rest of my life as a laughing hyena. Actually, that sounds like fun.

After a minute or so we calmed down enough to talk coherently. We both agreed it was about time that we went to meet the others. She grasped my hand in hers again then steered me to the left through another swinging door. This time there was two. On the other side of the doors was a bleak grey hallway that only went a few feet then took a right. We followed the path until we came to yet another pair of swinging doors. That's when I felt it. A room charged to the brink of emotional electricity. There were people on the other side of those doors and either they were all getting along very well or they wanted to rip each other's tongues out. But based on the giddy smile on Raven's face I would have to say it was the former. Or she was a sociopath and it was the latter.

"Here we are!" The blonde beamed as she briefly let go of my hand so she could push both of the doors open at once. She waltzed into the room with a childish spring in her step while I followed as conspicuously as possible. The room was fairly large; to the left of the door was an oak bar with all assortments of alcohol. Across from the bar were a couple of square dining tables, white, with bland chairs on each side, black. The dining tables were next to a large display window that overlooked a very large open space that was only occupied by a large golf ball shaped structure that was emitting electricity at enormous amounts. Whatever the building was, it sure was important. Next to the large window was a pinball machine. It was fairly new, and it had flippers, I had never seen a pinball machine with flippers, though I heard it made the game quite a bit easier. On the wall across from the door was a juke box, man how I missed music. Music was banned from the school; well, all music except for classical, which we were forced to play in band. I shivered just thinking about it. Next to the juke box was a small fish tank, cute, but not terribly exciting. Opposite the window overlooking the lawn with the golf ball structure was another window which revealed a rather quaint courtyard.

The courtyard was square in shape and had a glass awning over a walkway to the left, a few shrubs to give it some appeal, and in the centre was a large bronze statue of a man; I had no idea who the man was and I didn't particularly care. Back in the room in front of the window was a coffee table with a black couch on either side of it and two matching comfy chairs were angled to look out the window but were placed far enough apart that the occupants didn't bump knees. The furniture wasn't all that important; it was the people sitting upon it that grabbed my undivided attention. On the couch facing me was a young girl, who I assumed to be Angel, and a black man, to the left of their couch, sitting in one of the comfy chairs, was a red headed guy whose face was covered in freckles. Next to the red head was a pretty boy blonde who wore a very angry expression. _He's going to be a butt load of sunshine, isn't he?_ I thought to myself with a laugh.

There was one other mutant in the room. A chestnut-haired boy whose back was turned to me. I've always had a thing for brunettes... Brunet's? Gaaah. I don't know. But still, something drew my attention to him. Like he was the most important person in the room and as far as I knew, maybe he was.

"Guys, this is Maxine, the last member to our little group!" Raven said, motioning to me before sitting down next to the brown-haired boy. At the sudden movement and words he turned around to face me. The serene blue eyes behind thick rimmed glasses connected with mine and I smiled. He blushed in response. How cute. These next few days were going to be tons of fun.

"Max. My name's Max."


	3. Chapter 3

**Perfect Synergy**

_"There is an electric fire in human nature tending to purify - so that among these human creatures there is continually some birth of new heroism. The pity is that we must wonder at it, as we should at finding a pearl in rubbish."_ - John Keats

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><p>"Well, Max, join the party!" The black man said from the couch while his long arms motioning to the small gathering around him. I smirked and I dropped my bag by the door. Not much of a party, and there was nowhere to sit. Wasn't that just pleasantly awkward! Luckily for me, Raven had scooted over to the left side of the couch and her neighbor was all the way against the right. She looked back at me and patted the spot next to her. I took that as a full out invitation to hop over the back of the couch and land smack dab in between the two occupants, which I executed perfectly. The boy shifted away from me, I hadn't actually planned on staying there long. I planted my feet at the edge of the cushions and lifted myself up so I was sitting on the back of the black couch. The two people next to me relaxed into the positions they had been in before I had ruined their two-some. Everything was back to normal. Well, if you considered seven mutants in the same room something normal.<p>

"Soooo..." I started. "I know all of your names, just not to each face." I mentioned, not so subtly hinting that they should each share their names.

Luckily for me, the redhead seemed to get what I was trying to say. He got up from his chair and extended a fairly large hand out towards me. I grasped it firmly. "Sean Cassidy." He said in a southern drawl. A southern gentleman? Smashing.

The blonde who was sitting in the chair next to Sean's spoke up next. "Alex." He grumbled with a slight nod before taking a swig from his Coke bottle, which was the only thing that grabbed my attention.

"Hey, that's a little bit rude. I'm the guest here. Where's my drink?" I complained lightly. Everyone let out a small laugh while Sean headed over to the bar. He crouched down behind it and opened something. When he stood back up, his whole six and a half feet (slight exaggeration), I saw two Coke bottles in his hands. He then grabbed a glass from below the counter, poured one of the Cokes into it, opened whatever he got the bottles out of, placed a couple of ice cubes in the glass, then walked back over to the sitting area with the drinks in tow.

He handed me the bottle. "For the lady."

I smiled at his kindness. "Thank you, Mr Cassidy."

"Not a problem." He assured me, sitting back down in his chair with a smile, sipping his drink as he went.

The girl I assumed to be Angel gave Sean an 'I can't believe you just did that' look before looking back at me. "I'm Angel." She said with a smile, confirming my assumptions. "And don't be fooled by Sean's courtesies. He just wants to get into your pants."

At Angel's blunt statement, Sean choked on his drink. He didn't get it on any of us but we all laughed regardless, well, all except for the blue-eyed boy next to me who looked terribly nervous. I nudged him with my leg. "You okay?" I whispered.

He said nothing but he did nod in response before turning to look out the courtyard window as if there was something extremely exciting about the statue all of a sudden. As he turned I caught a glimpse of a blush creeping across his cheeks. He was so freaking adorable.

"Hey! I do _not_ want to get into her pants! I was just being a gentlemen and I was going to get a drink then anyway do why not hit two birds with one stone?" Sean practically howled at Angel while playfully noogieing her. Angel just laughed. Most girls I knew would've gone into a hissy fit because a guy was messing up their hair. Ruining the hours it took to get their hair to look like poodles with all that hairspray. I'm glad she wasn't like that at all.

The man next to Angel was next to speak. "Now now, calm down." He said to the two still bickering over Sean's intentions. "We're all friends here."

With one last playful shove from Angel, their small fight ended.

"Great, I'm Darwin, by the way." 'Darwin' said cheerfully with a wave. Then he saw my confused expression and his face fell a bit. "Something wrong?"

"Charles didn't mention a Darwin being a part of the division." I said truthfully, and he hadn't.

"My real name's Armando." He said, his face lighting up with a brilliantly white smile. _Wow that was just a bit blinding._

I snapped my fingers in understanding. "The world makes sense again." That got a small chuckle out of a couple of the young mutants around me. Once we were all done laughing everyone turned their attention to the silent boy next to me. He looked at us like he was a deer caught in the headlight's of our massive 18-wheeler.

"I'm... I'm, uh, H-Hank McCoy..." He muttered while fidgeting in his seat.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hank."

His posture eased slightly. A smile even teased the corner of his lips.

"And I'm Raven!" Raven beamed from the other side of the couch. I turned to look at her sarcastically.

"Yes, darling, I know." I placed a kiss atop her head, gave it a pat, and then returned my attention back to the others.

But Raven wasn't done. "While we're all here, we should think of code names. We're government agents now; we should have secret code names." She paused to gauge everyone's expressions. "I want to be called Mystique."

"Damn," Sean said playfully from his chair. "I wanted to be called Mys-_tique_." He said, clearly meaning for it to be taken as a joke when he put the extra emphasis on the last syllable.

"Well, tough, I called it." We all started to turn our attention away from Raven but we were suddenly drawn back to the fact that she had turned into an exact replica of Sean, arching her, now his, eyebrows.

There was a 'Whoa' a 'What' and a 'Hot Damn!' from Darwin, Angel, and myself respectively. I looked at Sean who was taken aback and was so shocked that he shot back, causing the chair he was sitting on to balance on the back legs.

"And I am way more mysterious than you." Raven said in Sean's suddenly smooth voice. The one way you could tell that she wasn't really Sean was by her posture. It was way too proper to belong to that lanky guy. She turned back into herself and we all applauded, even Sean. Girl was damn impressive. "Darwin, what about you?" Raven directed at the man across from her.

He didn't take long to respond. "Well, uh, Darwin's already a nickname and, you know, it sort of fits. Adapt to survive and all." He paused momentarily for effect. "Check this out." He got up from his seat and started walking behind the couch.

I leaned down to whisper in Raven's ear, "Did his pecs bounce when he said, 'adapt to survive and all'?"

"I think they did..." She whispered back. We chuckled to ourselves and went back to watching Darwin, who, at that point, was next to the fish tank, looking at us smugly. He then plunged his head into the water, causing the fish living in it quite a fright. We watched closely as the skin between his eyes and ears became gills. He opened his mouth and with his magnificent smile successfully breathed with them. That was easily the coolest thing I'd ever seen in my life.

Darwin then lifted his head from the water, shook it, was met with applause, and then grabbed a towel that was lying on a small table behind him. "Thank you, thank you. What about you?" He asked Sean as he returned to the couch.

Deep in thought, Sean leaned forward and touched the pads of his fingers together. "I'm going to be... Banshee."

"Why would you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank asked innocently.

A playful smirk colored Sean's face. "You might want to cover your ears." He warned as he slinked out of his chair and crouched down in front of the coffee table, facing the courtyard. We all hesitantly brought our hands up to our ears as Sean inhaled for about (exactly) seven seconds. I counted. He then leaned his head to the right, then to the left, looked up and let out an extremely high pitch whistle. The window to the courtyard shattered into a million tiny shards. He had whistled like any normal person would to sing along to a tune on the juke but his had the power to make my brain practically vibrate in my skull. We all laughed in disbelief of his rad power. He then pointed to me. "Your turn!"

I smirked. _Time to show off!_ "I guess I would have to be... Synergy? Yeah. Sounds cool." I decided. Though I was thinking about it the entire time everyone else was going, I liked to pretend I just came up with it on the spot. Raven gave me an odd look as I started rubbing the pads of my fingers together, as did everyone else. But when sparks started to fly off my skin, they seemed to understand. Hank stared at my hands in utter scientific amazement. I then sent a concentrated burst at the light fixture above our heads and the light blew. Shards sprayed in all directions and I used my power to manipulate electrical fields to coax them all away from my fellow mutants. Showing off, good. Accidentally getting small sharp fragments in everyone's eyes? Bad.

"That was absolutely fascinating! C-can you do anything else?" Hank asked in an innocent yearning to obtain more knowledge.

"Well..." I paused. "I've only done this once before so I don't know if I can do it on command." I said lamely. I then opened my hand out in front of me and concentrated, hard. The lights around us began to flicker and a ball of electrical energy formed in my hand. I then closed my hand around the energy and we were surrounded by darkness. I had absorbed all of the electrical energy within a few yards into my body. And, if I was correct, I should've been glowing about then.

"Holy shit!" Sean said from somewhere in the room. I assumed he hadn't moved but who knows with that kid.

I opened my eyes; I hadn't really known that I shut them. I was right. There was a distinct blue hue emanating from my skin. Everyone started laughing and I returned my stolen energy back to the facility. The light returned to the fixtures and I could see everyone's beautiful faces again. _Oh dear God what is that- oh that's just Sean. My bad._

"I think the Angel should go next." I said, motioning towards the girl across from me.

She seemed to like that idea. Angel stood up from her spot very delicately. "My - uh - stage name is Angel." She said with a bit of regret in her voice as she shoved off her jacket. Sean whistled. "It kind of fits." She said smugly. The first thing that caught my eye was the tattoos on her shoulders. She turned around and then I saw two more tattoos on her back. _It's almost like they're alive... wait a second; they're lifting up off of her skin! Holy _crap_ that's cool!_

"You can fly?" Raven said excitedly beside me.

"Uh huh. And um..." Angel said as she scanned the room before her eyes settled on the bronze statue in the courtyard. She turned her body towards it, inhaled slightly, and spat a small ball of acid that landed on the head of the statue. _That was... awesome and disgusting. I like it_. We laughed in admiration of her gift. Someone said 'disgusting' while laughing but there was no bite to it so Angel didn't seem offended.

"I would've called you Spitfire." I said truthfully, shrugging my shoulders. Angel took a second to contemplate the idea; seemed as though she liked the name too. Still, she smiled, proud of what she had done, tucked away her wings, and put her jacket back on.

After making sure she was covered she turned to Hank. "What's your name?" Clearly implying what he wanted his super secret agent name to be.

Hank didn't reply. His lips pressed together and his brow furrowed. Was he embarrassed? We had all been put on the spot, so he wasn't alone. I looked at him watching his feet; they were uncomfortably trying to hide underneath the couch._ Does his mutation have to do with his feet?_

"How 'bout Bigfoot?" Alex said teasingly from his seat. If Hank wasn't so insecure about himself I'm sure that he would've played along, but he genuinely seemed like he was going to burst at the seems with either embarrassment, or fear.

"Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet." I said with plenty of spite in my voice. I didn't appreciate bullying.

Raven leaned forward a bit to look at Alex's feet. "And, uh, yours look kind of small."

Everyone, besides Alex of course, gave a good you-just-got-burned laugh. Hank even smiled a bit. I nudged him with my knee and he gave me the most adorable smirk I had ever seen.

"Okay, now." Darwin said calmly in an attempt to settle down the unruly youngsters around him. "Alex, what is your gift, what can you do?"

"It's not- umm... I just can't-" He paused. "Uhh... can't do it, can't do it in here." He answered with an uncharacteristic nervousness to his voice.

"Well, can you do it out there?" Darwin asked, clearly curious what he could do. As we all were.

"Why don't you do it out there?" A very eager Raven said from beside me. "Come on!" She then said when he still seemed adamant on skipping on his show-and-tell.

That's when it started, "Alex, Alex, Alex," Darwin started to chant, and everyone, except for Hank, joined in.

"Alex, Alex, Alex!"

Finally, he gave in, getting a 'Yeah!' from Sean. Alex stood, placed his soda on the coffee table, and walked over towards the shattered window.

"That's the spirit!" Darwin encouraged.

Still, something seemed edgy about him. "Get down when I tell you." He warned us just before stepping through the window. Cautiously, we followed him. We all crowded around the broken frame to watch Alex who had retreated into the back right corner, out of our sight. We leaned out the window.

"Get back." He warned, and we obeyed. But we quickly stuck our heads back out again. Alex had started concentrating until he saw us again. "Get back!" He said with a bit more bite to it. This time we didn't obey and continued to watch him. "Whatever." He grumbled. He then rolled his shoulders slightly and flexed all of his muscles. His core began to swivel in circles and he was suddenly surrounded by red rings. Without really having any physical hold on the he threw the rings out into the night sky; one skimmed past the broken window so we all ducked, one impacted the CIA building on the second floor, and the last one he sent right at the statue. That poor statue. The red ring successfully cut the statue at an angle from shoulder to hip and the two pieces had caught fire where Alex's powers had split it. Not even watching the top half of the statue drop to the ground, we were awe struck. The three boys were sort of dumbfounded while Angel and Raven were jumping up and down and clapping and I was tipping an imaginary hat to him.

Alex looked back at us and smiled, clearly feeling better about his powers now that he knew he had our approval. A very proud Sean walked up to the energy wielding mutant and clapped him on the back.

"That was amazing!" He laughed.

In all of the commotion, I realized I never learned Hank's mutation. "Hold the phone!" I practically screamed, startling everyone. They all looked at me so I continued. "I want to see what Hank can do!"

Hank looked at me with scared eyes and was completely red in the face. I probably shouldn't have called him out the way that I had but, oh well. _What's done is done_.

"I-it's not that great..." He mumbled while biting his lower lip. I gave him a reassuring pat on the back. If nothing else I was going to make Hank feel better about himself over the next few months. That much I was sure of.

"Come on, Hank. Please?" I cooed. I may have gone to an all-girls school but I was still pretty good at getting boys to do whatever I wanted.

He blushed even more, but he looked as if he was going to comply. Hesitantly, he bent over and took off his shoes. Next came his socks. With the removal of his footwear I was able to see why he was so self-conscious about his feet. They weren't feet at all, they were hands.

"Hooooooly sexy Jesus! That is awesome!" I yelled ecstatically.

Hank gave me a shy smile before heading out into the courtyard, carefully avoiding the broken glass. Practically exploding with curiosity I followed him. He gave me a quick glance before he jumped up and began scaling the side of the building even though there were no grooves in it. He was practically free climbing thirty feet of glass and doing it like a champ. He made it all the way to the top of the building, looked around, and began his descent. The only difference about the trip down was that he had started from the corner and was rebounding off of each wall as he made his way to the ground. _Lord. Who could be ashamed of being able to do that! _Once he landed I rushed over to him and squeezed him in a vice grip of a hug.

"That was pretty bad ass!" Sean said excitedly from behind us. I turned to see that everyone was standing there in the same shocked state as when Alex had show cased his talent. Suddenly they all burst into applause. I looked back at Hank and laughed at his humbled expression. He really was the most adorable guy I ever had the pleasure to meet. From his shy blue eyes to his wickedly awesome hand-feet, he was my definition of perfection.


	4. Chapter 4

**Perfect Synergy**

"_Living under a cloud of black...udder a single word and watch the lightning strike...feel the roar of the thunder. Periods of calm are like tears dripping from a rainbow...and life goes on." _– Donna A. Favors

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><p>Over the course of an hour or so I learned that there was so much more to the mutants around me besides their unique genetic structure. Like anyone else, you can make all sorts of assumptions and judgments, but keep your mouth shut because they will, more often than not, surprise the hell out of you. Take us for example, with Darwin being the oldest at twenty-six and myself the youngest at sixteen, our occupations ranged from poorly paid cabbies to being under the employment of none other than the CIA itself before this whole mutant ordeal even came to light. If you happened by our conversation and had no clue as to our powers and gifts, you'd probably think we weren't any different from the average Joe's. Though it wouldn't stay that way for long. You can't have a room full of mutants and <em>not<em> talk about the origins of our gifts. Sorry Joe. Nothing personal.

"So, who thinks they got their powers first?" Angel asked to start us off.

Sean, Alex, Darwin and I looked at each other, thinking that one of us would've been the youngest. Darwin looked like he was going to speak up when he suddenly stopped. Behind me, I being on the floor now, both Hank and Raven raised their hands tentatively in the air. They looked at each other and hesitantly asked, "Born with it?" They nodded in response to the other's question.

Hank and Raven started to laugh when Sean interrupted them, "So, what, you were born and then you changed into the spitting image of your mom, or something?" He joked.

What Sean said had a good point to it since none of us were aware to the true nature of Raven's mutation. Or, the true nature of herself. And boy was it a doozy. She gave us a nervous shadow of a smile and the blue feathery substance you saw briefly as she changed appearances began to cover her entire body. Inch by inch her flushed skin was coated with a cerulean blue substance that was actually her natural skin, it was such a beautiful hue that I was almost entranced by it. After a minute, before us was no longer a peppy blonde girl with green eyes and rosy cheeks, but a blue skinned girl with blood red hair and piercing yellow eyes. I looked up at her in amazement. Her bare legs next to me were also just as mesmerising and had weird little markings along the sides of her calves. Without really knowing it I found my fingers tracing over the intricate skin of my friend.

"That tickles!" She giggled as her leg jumped from my touch. She was almost like a work of art. I looked back at everyone else to see if they were as impressed as I was. Their jaws were, almost literally, on the floor in shock. Raven took a second to compose herself and said with a gesture of her hand, "I was born like this."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Hank, who seemed rather embarrassed. I was guessing it was because he had felt like such an outcast with only his slightly mutated feet when the girl sitting next to him was born completely blue. But he didn't need to feel like that. His struggle was just as real as hers. I placed a comforting hand on his knee and squeezed. He gave me a thankful look but still looked rather uneasy. I leaned my head against his leg when my previous attempt didn't work all that well in some hope that he would relax.

"To get this straight, Hank was born with his feet like that and Raven was born blue as the blue lagoon?" Sean asked, yet again. The two in question nodded.

Sean laughed. "Awesome!" We all joined the red-head's laughter.

_Man, is he easily amused or what?_ I kept to myself. Not that I could talk. You could get me to laugh at the littlest thing.

"So, who's next?" I asked, clapping my hands and rubbing them together. My power had become apparent just before adolescence so I imagined I would be close to last, chronologically.

"Well, I figured out I was 'different' when I was eight. No one else figured out before then?" Darwin mentioned in passing, looking around and waiting for someone to stop him.

Amidst our little group, Alex spoke up. "I was able to shoot out those rings when I was seven. I'm not much of a sharer so you can tell your story first."

Hesitantly, Darwin continued. "I grew up in the Bronx and I was playing stick ball with some kids when my cousin ran out into the street into oncoming traffic. And I decided it would be smart to run after her so we could _both_ get plowed over by an oncoming 18-wheeler. I thank God every day for my mutation just because of that one incident. Instead of turning into a pancake, my body adapted into titanium. And other than the bill my ma got from the truck driver for the damage done to his engine, I came out completely unscathed." Darwin boasted with a large grin on his face. "My cousin got by with a few scratches, but she was more terrified than anything."

"Lucky bastard. I wish that _my_ idiotic blunders ended that well." Everyone gave a small chuckle to my statement. "Now, time for sour puss to tell his tale."

At first, no one knew who I meant by sour puss. They got it though when I actually pointed to him. One by one, heads turned and laughter erupted. Alex gave me a menacing look before letting out a labored sigh and telling his sad story.

"In the foster home I was in, it was eat or be eaten. When I was first put into the system I got into a lot of fights with the older kids. So one day, I don't know what was so different about it; I guess they just got fed up, a bunch of them ganged up on me while I was sleeping and dragged me down the road. They tied me to a fence that surrounded the abandoned factory next door and started hitting me with whatever they could get their hands on. Rocks, garbage, bottles, bats, they didn't care. After I lost consciousness a couple of times I felt something inside of me. At first I thought I was having a heart attack. Next thing I knew, all the kids were being rushed to the hospital for extreme fourth degree burns. Luckily for them it only grazed the tops of their skin so nothing had to get amputated." He said with such nonchalance it was almost frightening.

It took me awhile to realize that he wasn't being indifferent because he was heartless; he was down playing his experience because it actually caused him severe emotional pain. Alex may have been a tough guy on the outside, but I could tell that was purely his survival and primal instinct showing through. He told us that he was a street fighter so I could see why he thrived; it was eat or be eaten.

"That's harsh, man. They all okay now?" Sean asked lightly and quietly.

Alex gave a bit of a shrug. "One died a year later, from a completely unrelated incident, and I think the rest of them formed a gang and are still in Virginia." He said without a hint of remorse. "Who's next?"

I gave everyone a minute to absorb all of that before, tentatively, I raised my hand. "Probably me. I was eight or nine. Maybe ten; can't really remember."

Next to me, Raven laughed. "How do you_ not_ remember when you first used your powers? I know I was born like this but it's still a memorable moment if you ask me!"

I looked up at her and stuck my tongue out. "Bite me, Madame Bleu. And I wasn't born with my awesomeness visible for everyone to see, thank you very much!" I said very matter-of-factly. "I was about eight when my older brothers all dared me to stick a pair of scissors in an electrical outlet." Took everyone a second to grasp how quickly I changed topics.

"You refused, right?" Hank asked me from behind me to my right.

I looked up at him and winked deviously, earning me an alarmed look in return. "Of course not. Once you dare Maxine Dugan-Fuller to do something, she sure as hell is going to do it! Not that it mattered anyway. I was electrocuted and it didn't hurt one tiny bit. I probably would've forgotten all about that if I wasn't static shocking everyone for the next year. That's why I'm not so sure if my powers manifested then or when I simulated a lightning strike. Besides, my childhood's pretty fuzzy around that time anyway." I paused briefly and was about to continue until Hank practically leapt off the couch in excitement.

"You can simulate lightning?" He exclaimed with a loudness I hadn't ever heard come from him. I smiled at his outburst and he turned a red that rivaled Raven's natural hair color.

"Uh huh. It takes a bit of effort, but it's definitely doable." I offered, hoping the subject would be dropped if I pretended that the conversation wasn't happening.

And by looking at the expectant faces around I knew that my tactic completely failed me. I never was very tactical, or successfully tactical. I gave a sigh before standing and edging towards the courtyard. The mutants rose from their chairs and followed me. Once I was in the courtyard I gave them all a regretful look. I clapped my hands together and began rubbing them furiously. Several large sparks jumped from the resulting friction but I wasn't going to do anything too spectacular until I had charged myself completely. I could feel it, so much kinetic energy flowing through my circuits. God, it was better than any artificial high out there. I aimed my hands at the remains of the statue Alex had desecrated and let the electricity escape in one large burst. Briefly, the whole area was illuminated, almost to the point to blind a man. Then the statue exploded, his shoes being the only thing intact anymore. Applause sounded from behind me. I turned and gave a sly smirk.

Little did they know the electric blast had completely exhausted me. I was having extreme difficulty keeping my eyes open let alone standing up straight. That was something that had been worrying me; no one else seemed to be tired after using their powers. Maybe it's because my electricity runs through my veins and there's- I have no idea how their powers coursed through them. Disregarding my theories, I walked back through the glass and nearly collapsed on top of Hank who was just standing there with a gaping hole for a mouth. I gave him a weak smile.

He grabbed me by the shoulders. "Can I do some tests, or something? Please?"

I, being much too tired to object, nodded my compliance. I still had the energy to joke though. "At least buy me dinner first." I smiled weakly. :But we're… we're uhh... we were sharing our age... power... whatever..." I muttered before plopping down on the floor in front of the couch Raven and Hank had been sitting on. Everyone soon returned to their seats as well, but not before giving me a worried look. They had noticed my sudden lethargy; well, they'd have to be blind not to!

I ignored their glances. "So, who's next?"

"I think that would be me." Angel said with a smile. "I woke up one morning when I was twelve with these "tattoos" on my shoulders." She said motioning to said body parts. "My mom freaked out thinking that I had_ actually_ gone out and had them done in some sleazy parlour or something. After getting in a screaming fight with her I just wished I could fly away... and that's just what I did. I flew away."

That was extremely cool. But her story wasn't done there.

"So, that's the story of my wings. The story of my 'spitfire', as Max called it, is a bit funnier. I was thirteen... and I was with my first boyfriend..."

"Oh shit." I mumbled, covering my mouth, having connected the dots before some of them were formed.

"I was with my first boyfriend, experiencing my first kiss, when he started screaming. I was so shocked... I had acid saliva. It was _soooo_ grooooss!" She whined while laughing. "He was fine, and in the end I learned how to separate my two... you know!"

We all laughed and turned to Sean, the only person left, who was inconspicuously eating some brownies; guess he had them stuffed in his pocket. But he was almost trying to hide them and being the sister to boys who liked to dabble in recreational drugs, I was suspicious. I yanked the brownie out of his hand and nibbled at it. I remember it tasted… like cannabis. Sean was eating pot brownies? What the hell! I know it was the 60's but I totally forgot about this until just now I'm sorry!

"Sean? The fuck?" I yelled while laughing.

"_Shhhhh_." He whispered, giggling a bit. "Why're you guys all looking at me, anyways?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "You're the only one who hasn't gone, dumb ass."

"Ohhhh... well... uh… where haven't I gone?" He drawled, though you could almost say he slurred it.

"Your powers, Sean. We were sharing when we first got our powers." I tried to remind him without smacking him.

He smiled. "Oh yeah!" The pot brownies were clearly taking effect already. "Oh yeah, I was fifteen... I think. I was at a cousin's wedding and I was dancing with another cousin... heh... and she stepped on my foot. And she dug this real skinny heel into me and I screamed, and screamed, and screamed." He laughed. "It was so funny! The cousin I was dancing with lost consciousness in no time at all! A few other family members did too, but the real funny part was when the groom got so delirious that he smooched the best man. It took a shouting match and an absence of about two hours to prove that he wasn't in love with the guy." Sean said before laughing so loud I had to cover my ears. Damn boy was already high as a kite. How many did he eat? In his fit of drug-induced-laughter he kicked his glass of Coke at Angel and Darwin. The glass narrowly avoided her as she was nestled against the back of the couch while the projectile connected with his knee and shattered.

"Sean!" Raven gasped from the other side of the table, half expecting Darwin to be howling in pain.

Darwin looked at Sean and smiled. "That the best you got?" He then banged on the side of his knee with his knuckles and a metal sounded resonated. Of course, he adapted to survive even the dumbest of Sean's antics. _Now that's what I call a superpower._

We all looked at Sean to see if he was going to accept Darwin's challenge. Of course he was. He grabbed Alex's drink right out of his hand and chucked it at the older man. The drink shattered on his chest which had turned into some sort of metal scales. Everyone around quickly shielded their eyes, just because Darwin could survive it didn't mean we could.

"That tickled." Darwin scoffed with an overly confident tone.

Suddenly, Alex stood up and shoved off his jacket. "I want in." He said. But first, he punched Sean in the shoulder.

"Dude! You're supposed to hit him, not me!" The redhead complained.

"That was for smashing my Coke." Alex replied with smirk before grabbing a broom that was by the swinging doors. He raised it high when Raven, who had long since returned to her blonde form, stood up, and got in his way.

"You think you could take that over there?" She said, gesturing to the open area behind her. The three boys looked at each other, shrugged, and headed over to perform their shenanigans out of everyone's way.

Once they were a safe distance away I turned towards Hank. "So what else can you do with those magnificent feet of yours?" I asked, hoping to make Hank feel more comfortable while sating my incurable curiosity.

"Nothing really..." He mumbled.

"Nothing? Are you forgetting what you showed us in your lab? That wasn't nothin'!" Raven said, nudging him in the side.

Hank blushed something fierce. He then stood, looked at his feet, and trudged over towards the dining tables. I thought he was going to jump on one of them. Man was I surprised when he flipped upside down and gripped onto a dangling light fixture with his hand-feet. I watched all the blood rush to his face before asking, "How long can you stay up there?"

"I'm not sure..." He said with a bit of struggle.

"You should test it!" I said with a tap to his nose. I then turned back to the girls. "Who's for turning up some tunes?" I got an excited response from both Raven and Angel. We then jumped over to the juke box and began sifting through the records.

Raven paused on one. "Hippy hippy shake! I love that song!"

So, that is what we played. Angel quickly ran over to the bar and poured herself another Coke, Raven jumped onto the couch Angel and Darwin had once occupied, and I jumped onto the coffee table. When Angel returned with her drink in hand her wings immediately lifted from her shoulders and she began flying in time to the music. I looked behind me to see how the boys were doing. They had since moved the other couch to give them more room to make a mess. To my left, Angel had knocked over a table, and Hank was rocking out while hanging upside down. I decided to add to the ambience by playing with the lights. All around us lights were flickering, giving one the feeling being in a club. Back in front of me I could see Sean wielding a chair and barreling towards Darwin. Darwin's back, shoulders, and head was covered in the scale like armour, so we didn't fear for his safety. But when the chair practically ricocheted off the adaptable mutant we all burst into laughter. Alex then proceeded to start beating Darwin with... a leg from a table? I looked back at the dining tables, sure enough, one was missing a leg. I continued to laugh until I heard, "_What_ are you doing?"

We all halted our merriment to turn and look into the most pissed off brown eyes we had ever seen.

_Shit._


	5. Chapter 5

**Perfect Synergy**

_"Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity." _- L. Frank Baum

* * *

><p>Moira McTaggert. The uptight brunette who exposed mutants to the CIA. I had never met her before that, but Raven mentioned her in passing once or twice. From what I heard she was nice enough but had a flaming temper when needed. I don't know what it was, I just didn't get along with her. She reminded me a bit of my aunt Agnes. Ugh, I'm shivering just thinking about her. At that point in time she had her hands on her hips and was flanked by her henchmen. Erik and Charles. And they looked disappointed. Truly and utterly disappointed. I looked to my fellow recruits. Angel had lowered to the ground, Hank had dropped from the light fixture, and Darwin had returned to his normal regular fleshy form. We were completely silent aside from Sean who was having a hard time containing a high induced laughter. Alex quickly delivered a blow to his gut with his elbow to shut him up, which was moderately successful. I turned back to the two older men and the older woman in front of us, ready for the onslaught.<p>

"Who destroyed the statue?" Moira asked with one hand on her hip and the other pointing back to said desecrated statue. Technically she was pointing to a pair of bronze shoes. The look on her face was practically screaming "I did not sign up for the shit. If these kids need a babysitter I'm sending them all home". In my defense, I _was_ only sixteen at the time. In her defense I don't think I've changed at all and I'm seventeen now. Touche Moira.

"I-it was Alex." A nervous voice that could only belong to Hank tattled from behind me. I turned to give Hank a, 'really?' look and in the process I saw Alex give him a, 'what the hell, man!' gesture with his arms while Sean was sort of just, 'whaaaaat? Where was I when that happened?'

Let's just say I had to seriously fight the impulse to smack my forehead with my palm.

I had to fight the urge again when Raven said, "No, Havok, you have to call him Havok, that's his name now." I don't know why she felt the need to talk. Was she misinterpreting their facial expressions for gas? "And we were thinking..." She continued while pointing at Charles. "You should be Professor X, and _you_ should be Magneto." She said turning her finger towards Erik.

_Raven, please shut up_. I pled silently.

Back out in the courtyard, Erik scoffed. "Exceptional." He then exited stage left followed by a very pissed Moira. Leaving us alone with Charles who looked, as I said, disappointed.

"I expect more from you." He said, looking directly at his sister.

_Man, is he harsh on her or what?_ Soon after he also followed Erik out of the courtyard, leaving us alone once more. We were all silent for a while. No one moved, not even Sean. Out of the corner of my eye I watched my blonde friend lift a shaky hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. I turned towards her, she was fighting back tears.

I've never been all that great when it came to comforting people. Especially when the comforting involved another girl. I just- I didn't connect with them. I played rugby and wrestled in the mud. I didn't fret over my hair nor did I swoon over Elvis. I also wasn't as easily affected by words as other girls seemed to be. But Raven was a friend. A cheery girl that enjoyed being with friends and laughing that loud laugh that she had. Trying to cheer her up was the least I could do.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "You okay?" I asked her quietly.

Her eyes, full of tears, looked up at me and she nodded briskly. "Yeah. I should- I should be fine." She spoke quietly, fearing her voice would betray her. It caused my heart to lurch. I reached down and grabbed her hand, lifting it up and pressing my chapped lips against her skin.

"I think you're pretty." I offered with a playful grin and wide puppy dog brown eyes, hoping my compliment would ease the tension.

She smiled up at me, a little in disbelief, as if saying, "how could such a simple phrase make me feel better?" I guess I'm a little better at comforting than I gave myself credit for. I felt the negative energy start to leave her, mission accomplished. Raven gathered herself and said to the rest of us, "I think I'm going to call it a night."

"Me too." Hank interjected, coming up to Raven's left and offering his arm like a little gentlemen.

_So he likes Raven. Huh._ I thought to myself, removing myself from her and giving a small goodbye wave. As Hank helped her through the broken window frame she did the same, mouthing a 'thank you' before heading across the lawn and straight for, shockingly, another pair of swinging doors. If you thought this was going to be a tragedy about my life, you'll be sadly disappointed. It's really me seeking revenge against those doors.

"I think we're going to bed too." Darwin said, motioning to him and Angel. Their expressions were somber but the energy the were exuding was anything but. Angel wrapped her hand in his and they headed in the same direction Hank and Raven had just seconds before. They didn't even give me time to comment on them leaving together. That dampened my mood even more, even though it had improved considerably with my success in cheering up Raven. I turned towards the two boys who stayed behind. Sean seemed to have come down considerably as he had his hands shoved into his pockets and he was toeing miscellaneous pieces of rubble. On the other hand, Alex, who was looking everywhere except for the statue we so thoroughly trashed, was moving towards the furniture they had relocated.

"So, just us, then?" I asked before plopping down on the sofa Alex had just moved.

He gave me an exasperated look before he nudged Sean and motioned for them to reclaim their chairs. Once seated Alex let out an exhausted sigh. "Guess so."

For a few minutes, nothing was said. We were still a little weary about the altercation with Moira and Charles. Charles was always a total charmer whenever I talked to him. He'd never even implied that he had anything but pleasant emotions lurking around in his cranium. I assume he had come off to the others in a similar fashion because they seemed just as riveted. Another minute or so passed and the silence was sort of getting on my nerves. Guess it was time something was said.

"Is Charles always like that towards Raven?" I asked no one in particular, picking out some dirt from underneath my frayed nails.

"Like what?" Alex asked in return while buttoning and unbuttoning the cuff of his shirt. Sean was too busy playing with his unruly hair to give his opinion.

"Like he's a disapproving father? Sort of reminds me of an abusive relationship." I explained.

Alex shrugged. "From what I've seen they're thick as thieves. Guess it was just his older brother coming through." He then began to pick something out of his teeth, what it could be I had no idea. Hadn't seen him eat a damn thing since I arrived.

"I guess..." I muttered. Man, was I glad my brothers never acted that way towards me. Not that I'd let them. Still the whole experience had left me rather edgy. In summation: I needed a cigarette bad. I stood up and smacked the top of my thighs. "I'm going to have a smoke." I said before heading towards the door.

As I came around the couch Alex grabbed hold of my wrist. "You have smokes? How?" He asked in a tone of disbelief, like it was the most impossible thing in the world for me to have a pack.

"I, uhh, put them in my bag and brought them here?" I said with the most 'duh' tone I could muster.

"Charles took all of mine, why didn't he take yours?" Alex asked in a slightly irritated voice. Boy needed a light, too.

"I have secret compartments in my bags specifically for stuff like this. You're not supposed to smoke when you're still in school." I explained while tapping my foot impatiently. _Alex needs to let me go before I snap from the lack of nicotine, rip his arm off, and beat him to death with it!_

"But didn't he read your mind to find out where they were?" He continued. Boy just wasn't giving up.

I sighed. "I can block Charles out by encompassing my head with an electrical field. If he tries to breach my mind he'll get a major migraine."

What I said was true. I had tried it on the plane. I could feel Charles peering into my mind so I got a bit upset. Then, my powers sort of protected me. Next thing I knew, Charles was howling in pain. I honestly thought I had electrocuted him. Turns out I could keep telepaths from pilfering through my empty skull by concentrating my powers. Handy trick.

"Well... can I have a few?" Alex asked as nicely as he possibly could. Which was sad, since he didn't ask nicely at all.

I groaned. _Why am I such a giving person._ I walked over to my bag, rummaged through it, grabbed one of two packs, and tossed it to Alex. "Keep 'em." I said as he caught it with ease.

As much as it pained me to give my babies away it just wasn't fair that I had the only pack. I wasn't the only smoker on the planet. Besides, I had another. The blonde looked at me as if I was a God amongst men. I rolled my eyes, swung my bag over my shoulder, and before Alex had a chance to thank me I pushed my way through the swinging doors to find a roof access. As I wandered back into the circle atrium I could feel my skin start to tingle. If I didn't have a puff soon I might have just started electrocuting the unlucky passerby. Frantically, I looked around. My eyes settling on the first door I saw that wasn't either a bathroom or an exit and heading right for it.

After a few wrong turns and about three dozen swinging doors I found myself in front of a door that read 'Roof Access'. Sweet heaven on Earth. I said a silent prayer to the Lord above before I yanked the door open, not wasting any more time, and took the stairs leading up to the roof two at a time. Once I was at the last step I grabbed my last remaining pack and zippo from my bag and pushed open the door that separated me from the roof. The breeze that hit me made me feel alive: it was so brisk and soothing. I couldn't help closing my eyes and basking in the beauty of a perfect summer night. My black hair tousled around my head when a gust of wind hit me, rousing a gleeful giggle out of me.

This is what it truly felt like to be be able to experience such a childish joy for such a natural thing.

Maybe it was the change in atmosphere or the comforting air around me but I didn't feel jumpy anymore. I still wanted to smoke a cigarette though I didn't want to waste a whole stick until I was _really_ stressing. I gave it some thought and eventually compromised by just smoking a bit of one and saving the rest for a time it was truly needed. I pulled one out of the carton, placed it between my lips, and tried to light it despite the wind. My callused hand was cupped around the end of my light to help keep a flame. After four or five flicks I was able to light the thin white paper. I puffed a bit, to make sure that the embers remained, and I inhaled deeply. Even though I didn't need the smoke to calm me down I still liked the taste. Sue me. I exhaled the smoke through my nose and shivered from the feeling. Should've been a crime to enjoy something so much.

"Aren't those bad for you?"

I turned quickly to see Hank standing near the door with his hands in his pockets. That's when I felt my smoke start to fall out of my mouth. Even quicker than when I turned around I grabbed the cigarette before it had a chance to hit the ground and I threw my fist into the air.

"Ha! Take _that_ mutant agenda!" I yelled at the sky. Looking back at Hank I could tell that he was very confused by my sudden outburst. Of course I was going to explain. "I'm not crazy, it's just ever since Charles hunted me down mutants have been in the mindset to destroy my chances at smoking. I dropped it when I met Charles, I choked on the smoke when I met Raven, Alex just took my other pack, and here you are trying to scare me into dropping another one! You mutants are cruel, I don't have that many left!"

Hank chuckled slightly at my frantic explanation. "I'm sorry." He muttered before walking over to the edge of the roof. I took another drag from my cigarette before putting it out on the underside of my shoe and tucking it behind my ear. Curious as to what the free-climbing mutant was doing, I followed him over. He was looking down at the CIA trying to repair all the damage we had caused not an hour ago. They were carrying new jumbo sized windows to replace the ones we had broken and they were carting the remains of the statue off to wherever bronze statues went to die. Maybe the director needed some new shoes.

I looked at Hank out of the corner of my eye, remembering that he was only 20 and working for one of the most secretive agencies in the country. "How did you get mixed up with the CIA anyway?" I asked in a light attempt to make conversation while still keeping this curious cat in line.

"I came here after I got my doctorate." He started. "The agency has a habit of keeping track of people who graduate early, people who are applying for their masters and PhD's, and people who are attending Ivy League schools. I was a combination of all three so they sent Agent Black to observe my final presentation. He saw one of my machines, saw that it worked magnificently and thought I'd make a great addition to the agency." He said rather smoothly. Meanwhile I was sort of distracted by the amount of information he had just given me. I had never heard so many words come out of his mouth at any given time, up until that point. It was always one word responses or short sentences when need be.

"You graduated Ivy League early? Where'd you go?" I asked once I got my head back to the right place.

"Harvard."

My jaw dropped. The mousy boy standing next to me had gone to _Harvard?_ And had graduated _early__?! _Holy mother of hell! Either this boy was a flippin' genius or had a crap ton of money. No matter which, I was practically in the presence of royalty. Understandably, my jaw was on the ground. Upon realizing that I quickly pulled it back into a presentable position. I then asked in a shaky tone, as if afraid of the answer, "What year did you graduate?"

He gave me an uneasy look. "1957."

Yup. He was a mother fucking genius. "Jesus shit, Hank! You were _fifteen_! When I was fifteen I was smoking cigarettes and stealing cars! You're making me look like a bad apple! Not that I'm not but that's besides the point!" I joked with a playful shove to his shoulder. He gave me a slight smile before looking out past the tree line into the distance. I was going to leave it at that but there was something I was itching to know. "Why do you seem more comfortable now?"

He smiled. Like he was waiting for me to ask that. "I guess you guys have all had your hard times with your mutations. It makes me feel less insecure about my own. Besides I'm much better when I'm not surrounded by a group of people."

I let out a laugh. "Psshh, I would've loved to have your mutation as a kid. Would've saved me from falling out of a lot of trees, therefore a lot of sprained ankles and wrists, and probably would've saved me from my tyrannical brothers. They were why I was climbing so many trees in the first place." I stretched my arms over my head, I had to admit by that point I was getting pretty tired. Still, I wanted to talk to Hank some more. He wasn't like any other guy I'd met before so that's why I kept forcing my eyelids open.

"It was hard to get normal shoes." He admitted. "Still is. I have to get about five sizes larger than any average guy my age has to just to accommodate for my mutation." Hank said with a sad tone to his voice. Clearly he was still very insecure about his feet. It's not like I just expected him to meet all of us and suddenly feel like a superstar, I just- I wanted him to feel confident.

I clapped him on the shoulder. "You should see me going through a store, then. I can't touch anything metal, nothing at all. It's already a huge risk that all I wear is jeans and denim jackets. I can't even carry change on me. If metal brushes my skin and I don't have my powers in check the metal will get conducted and I'll possibly burn my clothes or other people. Or even cause a chain of electrical shocks to the other conductive substances around." I laughed as I said this though it was one of my few insecurities. I held the power to harm several people and just the slightest thing could set me off.

"Wow." Hank exclaimed. "That must be scary, holding that sort of power inside of you." He said with a sad look to his face.

"We've _all_ got this sort of power inside of us. Strength isn't just measured in energy blasts and electrical bursts." I said with a smile. And that's true. He was definitely strong, and definitely carried unmentionable power within him. Looking back, he was much more powerful than I ever was.

His eyes connected with mine just then, thanking me silently. Then his eyes cast downward, returned back up to my face then jumped back down to my chest region, guess something peaked his interest. "Are you injured?" He asked pointing to the ace bandages around my breasts.

_Well, a girl can dream I guess._

I laughed. "No no no no. They're just wrapped to keep them out of my way. It helps when I'm running." I gave him a devious smirk. He blushed, of course, the first mention of my breasts and he's suddenly a freaking tomato. I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Hank. It's just a piece of my anatomy. No need to get all bashful." I gave him a playful nudge.

He still looked uneasy, a typical thing with Hank, but underneath it I could definitely see that something was on his mind. I nudged his side a couple of times which got me a laugh. Was he ticklish? Something I would definitely explore later.

"You want to ask me something. Spill." I said harshly. Well you know what they say, whoever _they_ are. You never accomplish anything by being subtle.

"I was, well... I was wondering... c-can you conjure lightning?"

The sudden question about my powers caught me off guard. Was there anything in his freakishly large cranium besides mutations and boobs? I don't think he even thought about the latter! I sighed inwardly _and_ outwardly. "Possibly. I've never tried..." I paused. "_Weeeell_, that's a lie. I tried once before but I don't think I prepped myself enough because it didn't work very well."

He gave me a confused look. "You have to prep?"

"It's sort of like training to run a marathon." I started. "You don't want to run the whole ten miles on your first try unless you like the feeling of shin splints and torn ligaments. You want to start out with one, and gradually increase your distance every day. It's the same sort of conundrum with my powers. If I try to create all of the raw power a lightning strike delivers, I'll probably pass out. But, unlike training for a marathon, not that I'd even have to do that because I can run circles around Emil Zátopek any day of the week, I don't need to wait days. I can ease into it a lot faster. Especially if I relocate more electricity than I conjure." I explained as best I could. By the look on Hank's face I could tell that he at least partially understood what I was trying to say. They say the best explanation is a demonstration.

Again, whoever _they_ are.

Guess I would have to show him. I rolled my shoulders and shook out my hands. As an after thought I also pulled up my hair. I reached out in front of me and concentrated. I could feel the electricity beginning to pull away from their sources and then trying to make their way into my body. Little by little I was being filled with the addictive substance. I looked at Hank, with yellow eyes by then, to deliver a warning. "You might want to take a few steps back until you're about... 500 miles _that way_. Y'know, give or take a state." I said while motioning to the area behind me.

He obliged as he swallowed past a lump threatening to form in his throat. He returned to the door that led back down into the base. I then allowed every drop of electricity to flow into me. Never, in all my life, had I harboured so much energy. Sparks with enough energy to kill a man were jumping off my skin. Good thing Hank was a good distance away from me. Once I was sure I had all the energy I could gather I opened my palm to the sky and unleashed all of it. A bolt of lightning seemingly shot up towards the sky. What an unnatural sight. I smiled up at what I had done and then looked back down at the darkness below me.

'_Shit_.'

I couldn't just let the base be completely without power. And I was dreading what I was going to have to do next. While it cost me no physical energy to relocate electricity, using my own _did_. Guess I should've thought that through more. As I should do in the hopes that it'll deter any future idiocy. I began charging my own power to return to the base. Since I previously had the needed amount in my body it didn't take long to charge it back up again. Doesn't mean that letting it all go wasn't going to feel like someone sucked the life out of me. Then I ground my teeth together and I let the electricity out, sending it back to the building I had stolen it from in the first place.

After I was completely and utterly discharged I looked back to Hank while fighting off a crippling lethargy. I gave him a thumbs up and a really tired grin. Upon closer inspection I could see that he was absolutely radiant. "That..." He laughed. "That was... _amazing!_" He ran up to me and looked as if he was going to hug me, but he thought better of himself, the over-analyzing adorable nerd, and coughed into his raised hand. "I-I should be getting to bed." He mumbled, clearly embarrassed by his outburst.

"It is getting pretty late." I agreed. Ten minutes ago I would've tried to make him stay. But it was getting _real_ difficult to even stand up straight. Every time I started to sway I kindly asked my muscles to cut it out. Remain strong! My eyes fluttered a bit then to see Hank's back as he headed for the door. He pulled it open and before disappearing out of sight he waved shyly at me. I raised my hand to wave back but it ended up being more of a lift and fall. With a clunk I suddenly found myself alone, cold, and completely exhausted. Though I was already cold and exhausted.

I looked at my watch, just past midnight. I yawned loudly. I'm sure no one would mind of I took a nap on the roof. Perhaps I fell, perhaps I actually lowered myself, but suddenly I found myself on the gravel that covered the roof. I gave a content sigh before drifting off into nothingness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Perfect Synergy**

_"Pain reaches the heart with electrical speed, but truth moves to the heart as slowly as a glacier." _- Barbara Kingslover

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><p>Have you ever fallen asleep on the roof of a building? I have, and I wouldn't recommend it, it's not pleasant. Sure, it sounds like a romantic notion to someone who hasn't actually experienced it, but in truth it is the dumbest things I had done in the past week. I woke up the next day and attempted to yawn; which was surprisingly painful. What a wonderful way to start the day. One terrible thing about falling asleep face up on the roof was the massive sunburn you would get because you didn't wake up until noon in the middle of August. I groaned loudly as I brought a hand up to my face. With the slightest touch, I was yelling through clenched teeth due to the crippling pain. I looked around for a reflective surface. No beans.<p>

Why would I think there would be anything of the sort on a roof? I don't know, but I really wanted to see how badly I was burned. I scrambled up to a very wobbly standing position. I looked down at my legs and arms, they were burned too. I was _such_ a dumb ass! They weren't lobster red, though, a very good thing, they were just a bit pink. I stumbled over to the door that led back to the interior of the base. With lethargy pulsing through my body I found it rather difficult to keep a hold on the door handle (one of the only doors with a handle in that entire building). After many grabs, twists, and turns, I managed to yank the door open. Once I was able to see down the steps, I sincerely didn't want to take the stairs. There were several flights to that staircase, I remembered that; I didn't want to take the chance to stumble and break my hip. _I'm too young to need a hip replacement! But h__ow in God's name am I going to get down from here?_

I turned around very sluggishly. Man, I was getting sick of that! If I absorbed energy to juice me up I would just feel twice as exhausted as I did now once I repelled the junk! I couldn't win! Shaking the thoughts from my head I went back to searching for a better way down. Honestly, the only other way down was by falling.

Now that was an idea. If I could surround objects with an electrical field and move them, could I surround _myself_ with an electrical field to break my fall? If I hadn't been so tired I probably wouldn't have done it. But I decided in a sleep exhausted state that it seemed like the best option available! Why I didn't just go down the stairs with an electrical field surrounding me as a precaution still evades me. I was a real adrenaline junkie in my youth, and by youth I mean when I was sixteen, three and a half months ago. Gingerly, I began towards the edge of the roof. I peered over the edge into the courtyard: no passerby's. Perfect!

I walked back from the roof, got down into a running stance, and started a countdown.

"Three..."

I sank even lower into the gravel, causing it to cry out underneath my shoe.

"Two..."

I blanched my knuckles against the roof and summoned an electrical field around me.

"One!"

I bolted like a rocket off the roof. I was about fifty-seven percent sure that I had summoned a powerful enough electrical field to withstand my body impacting with the ground. As I soared through the air, time seemed to stop. Everything passed by me in slow motion, giving me the perfect chance to full heartedly regret the decision I had just made.

_I'm going to fucking die!_ I thought morbidly to myself. How could I do this? Why was I such an idiot? I have no clue. But, as I neared the ground, I just about pissed my pants. My feet connected harshly with the grass and pain shot up to my knees. I rolled over in pain. My hips didn't hurt, my thighs didn't hurt... only my shins.

"Shin splints! _Level Mutant!_" I howled into the sky as I was rolling on my back in pure crippling pain. _Of course I'd jump off a roof and just get killer shin splints from it! Why didn't I even _consider_ that?_ _Wow. I hate my life_. See, if I had done proper jump and roll procedure, I'm sure my shins would've bother me in the slightest. But, as I said, sleep deprived. I wasn't making very good decisions. After successfully screaming away seventy percent of the pain I sat up and started to massage the wounded appendages. _Dear Gandhi! Never doing that again! Well, probably not ever. With more preparation it was surely doable. But none of that, my legs hurt like a sonava!_

I was probably sitting in the middle of the courtyard for about four minutes when I finally saw someone familiar. A certain shy researcher to be exact!

"Hank! Help!" I called to him while waving; hoping desperately that his attention would be caught by my flailing arms. Hank would know what to do in a situation like this, right?

The boy in question turned at the sound of my voice. He looked behind him, in front of him, above him, _Yes, Hank, I can fucking fly_. After his eyes wandered for a second they found mine and he came jogging over to me. As he ventured closer his eyes widened. _Wha-what? Is there something on my face? Say a huge ass sunburn, perhaps?_

He tweaked his glasses and muttered in disbelief, "You're burned..."

My eyes nearly rolled out of my head. "Thanks a lot, _Sherlock._ Now, let's pay less attention to my beautiful face and more to my throbbing shins!" I said sarcastically while pointing to said shins. Hank blushed but lowered to the ground to examine them. Sorry Hank. I wasn't in a particularly good mood._  
><em>

He barely dusted his fingers over my skin and I yelped out in pain. "If that hurt you, these are pretty bad. How did you do this?" He inquired; never taking his eyes off my throbbing legs. If I hadn't known better, I would've accused him of being a pervert and I would've kicked him square in the chin. Good thing Hank didn't have a single dirty thought in that brilliant head of his, because I've got one mean kick.

I realized I was taking forever to respond. Too busy thinking about Hank. "I jumped off the roof." Was my anticipated if not completely indifferent reply.

I honestly didn't know a jaw could drop as low as Hank's did without dislocating. Well, you learn something new every day.

"You- what? Why!" He stammered and then proceeded to gently probe my hips and back. His scientific fingers, dare I say, gave me chills.

_Down girl_. I told myself. It wasn't my fault. No guy had ever treated me so tenderly, neither of the guys I'd slept with, not my brothers, don't get me wrong they treat me well, they just imagine me as one of the guys, and definitely not the friends I had made over the years. The only people to ever treat me like that were my mother and Jules. And last I checked they weren't sporting large schlongs between their leg. It was nice to have someone of the opposite sex who cared about your general well being and have completely innocent intentions.

I let Hank finish his examination before I bothered to explain myself. "I decided in extreme exhaustion that it would be cool to jump off the roof. I surrounded myself with an electrical field, ran to the edge of the roof, and jumped. Not really my smartest idea." I admitted. Of course it wasn't my smartest idea! My smartest idea was to stick scissors in an electrical outlet _by far_.

"Did you fall asleep up here?" I just blinked at him. Obviously. He sighed whilst shaking his head. He gave me a weak smile before continuing. "Sadly there's nothing more I can do besides the traditional treatment for shin splints. Wrapping, icing, and rest. But I can definitely help with that burn."

Well that certainly was good news! I knew I kept Hank around for something! Aside from being so gosh darn cute!

"You can? How can you do that?" I asked in disbelief and awe. To my knowledge there was no way to reduce sunburn redness other than time. And unless Hank had a time machine, which he honestly could have; the kids a freaking genius, he wouldn't be able to help me.

"Well," He pushed his glasses up with his index finger, "a sun burn is just a reaction the body uses to defend itself when it feels as if the DNA in your skin is being damaged. Melanin is released and it produces a mild, harmless, heat to protect the skin. With a topical cream I accidentally invented while trying to make something else I can completely eliminate the swelling and increase recovery. Instead of healing in days, a sun burn vanishes in hours!"

Wow. Hank was such a cute nerd! Who am I kidding; he's _still _a cute nerd. _My _nerd. Spoilers.

"Sounds great. But what did you originally create the cream for?" I asked innocently.

This seemed to faze him, which confused me. "I-it was for a... ummm... a science experiment! A-a-at Harvard!" He gave me a very flustered smile. "But enough of that! I'll take you to my lab to get you patched up!"

His sudden lack of composure surprised me. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit curious. I was also about a hundred and two percent sure he was telling one big fib because, one, he turned redder than my sunburn, two, he looked at his feet as he said it.

"Alright..." I finally allowed. Hank stood first then offered me a helping hand. I placed my hand in his and he pulled me into a standing position with surprising ease. He then wrapped my right arm over his shoulders and helped me walk towards, what I was guessing was, his lab. We spent the duration of our trip in complete silence. All thanks to him being a guilty liar. He knew deep down that I wasn't going to drop our previous conversation and that made him more nervous than usual. I knew that he was lying and that made me upset! _I can handle the truth!_

A few minutes later, we came to a metal door labelled, Henry McCoy, CIA Researcher & Engineer. So I assumed it was his lab and that Henry was his real name. He let go of me momentarily to reach into his lab coat, which I hadn't even realized he was wearing, only to pull out a ring of keys. It seemed he just picked a random one and jammed it in the dead bolt on the door. Turns out, it wasn't a random key at all! The tumblers inside the lock turned with the key and the door opened. Well, either it wasn't a random key and Hank was really good at finding his key or it was random and he was one lucky bastard! Those thoughts stopped in their tracks when I saw the interior of Hanks lab. It was so huge! It was around the size of my freaking _house_. _Hoooooo_ly _shit!_ There were lights going off everywhere on every sort of machinery, metals tools glimmered in the sun light from the few windows there were, there was a symphony of beeps, clicks, and whirls, and vials of all colours adorned shelves on nearly every inch of the four walls. It really was amazing; they treated Hank like a scientific king! I was so caught up in everything I didn't notice when Hank put my arm back over his shoulders and led me towards a metal examination table in the middle of the room.

Gently, he lifted me onto the table as if I weighed no more than a feather and went to one of the several cabinets on the back wall. I finally came back to reality just as Hank returned with a vial of the cream, at least I assumed it was the cream, and began rubbing it on my arms. He was looking at me as if he wanted a response to something.

"Sorry, you say something?" I asked, hoping that he had actually said something and he wasn't being creepy.

He smiled. "Just wondering where you got that scar on your knee."

Ah. The knee injury from a gymnastics meet in 1959. I had just turned fourteen and I was about ready to compete in the New Mexico Gymnastic Regional. See, I was actually brought up down near Mexico, but when my mother enrolled me in a bunch of all girls boarding schools, the one in Maine was the only one that wanted me. I was too much trouble for the rest of them, too many fights and too many bad grades. Back to gymnastics. Gymnastics was the only girly type sport I'd do because of the physicality. I love tumbling, always have, always will. But that didn't stop me from landing a triple flip on a straight leg. The stupidest thing I could've done at the time, I did. Tremendously! My knee practically snapped out of place and my knee cap was jutting out of my skin. There was blood everywhere. I wanted to keep going but my coach sent me straight to the hospital. They operated that same night to repair the damage done to my patella, fancy nerd word for knee, and told me I could never do gymnastics again. That didn't stop me from cycling, swimming, playing soccer, playing lacrosse, wrestling, or running. Oh, nor did it stop me from doing gymnastics. I'm just a regular girl who didn't know when to quit. Well, actually I do. The time to quit is _never_. But now I have a fake knee cap made of a dense polymer and hardly any nerves left in my actual knee. _Tragic_.

"I had surgery done on it." Was my half assed response. No need to go into the gory details and scare off the frightened little chipmunk that was Hank. It seemed as though he was going to accept my terrible answer and said nothing more. I noticed his hand trembling slightly against me and don't think I didn't see the blush creeping across his cheeks. I put a hand on his forearm and said, "I can do the rest if you want."

He looked at me with those adorable blue eyes of his, adjusted his glasses, and blushed a deep crimson. "Yeah, th-that sounds g-good." He nodded before leaving to do something else. As he escaped he ran into the other examining table next to me and then hurried off to a desk on the far wall. He was still within ten feet of me so I could see him knocking pencil containers over. What a cutie. I then continued what the boy had started and then moved onto my legs. Then, completely out of the blue, and I mean this was nothing close to what we are talking about, he asked, "Wh-why do you smoke?"

I had not expected that. Answer was easy enough, though. "My brothers all do it, my cousins and uncles all do it, and so does my father. Correction on the brother statement, my little brother doesn't. Or he shouldn't be smoking. If he is, at his age? I will kill that little bitch!" I ranted slightly towards the end of that. And for that I apologize. I looked towards Hank who was giving me the slightest smile which I found myself returning.

"You want a mirror for your face?" He asked as he picked one up. He jostled it a bit with his hand and it caught some of the overhead light. By some, I mean all. And of course that reflection went straight into my eyes. I was blinded.

"_Owwww!_" I yelped as I brought my hands up to my injured eyes. All I could see was blotches of white, yellow, green, and fuchsia across my visual horizon. I heard Hank get up from his desk, I heard his footsteps come towards me, and then I felt his presence in front of me.

A hand brushed mine out of the way. "Open your eyes, please." Hank asked so I kindly obliged. I still couldn't see anything so I had no idea what he was looking at. Guess I wouldn't need the mirror after all.

"You're going to have to apply the stuff to my face because I cannot, for the life of me, see a goddamn thing." I groaned. The air around suddenly became charged with nervousness. Was he seriously getting all wound up from that simple request? I guess he was. He placed two fingers that were covered in the cream against my face and spread it around with shaky hands. At least he didn't piss himself or didn't run out of the room screaming. Which I honestly thought he might do still. Guess this was as good of a time as ever to ask what he first intended the cream to be used for. "You never did tell me what you originally concocted this stuff for."

You could practically hear the poor boy try to swallow the lump in his throat. "I-it's nothing important."

Even though I couldn't actually see him I allowed my face to contort into a sarcastic eyebrow arch and a skeptic frown. I _sincerely _hoped that I didn't look like I had to take a huge dump.

"I... I had manufactured the salve in hopes it would... that it would cure my mutation..." He mumbled, causing his fingers to shake more. He actually got some in my mouth, I gagged and he apologized.

"Why would you want to cure it?" I asked in the gentlest voice I could manage as I spat out the bitter paste.

"I don't want to feel... different..." Hank mumbled again, this time he made sure not to let his coordination be affected by his nervousness.

I looked at him, well, I did my best, placed a hand on the arm closest to me, and squeezed slightly. "Hank, you don't need to hide anymore. We all love you as you are, mutated feet and all."

"That doesn't matter when everyone else sees my feet and they think I'm some sort of monster..." He muttered. I could tell by his voice that he was about to cry. Not a girly cry, but he would shed a tear or two.

I grabbed, more like fumbled for, his chin with my other hand and angled it towards me.

"What does it matter what the world thinks of you? Do you think Einstein would've pretended to be a dumb ass to fit in with everyone else? What about da Vinci? He was all over the map! He was a painter, a sculptor, a physicist, an architect, and so much more! You think that _he_ wanted to fit in? Of course not. So there is no need to hide any of _your_ brilliance either, from your brilliant mind to your even more brilliant feet. There is no reason you should have to hide. There's nothing wrong with you and everything wrong with every single person who tells you otherwise! Show off those amazing feet of yours and don't you ever hold back!"

"But..."

"No buts! You are a mutant, I am a mutant, our closest friends are all mutants. Sure, we all had those periods of doubt when we wanted to hide what we could do to fit in. But let me tell you this, I buried my abilities deep down inside and became so depressed that I started drinking. I only buried them because I was afraid of what my parents would say or how they would react. Trust me; they were more pissed about the alcohol! There are going to be people out there who will ridicule you for being different you'll just have to turn around, stick your middle finger right in their face and tell them to shove it! If they've got a problem with the natural you, they're the ones who should change. Not you."

My vision finally returned, just in time for me to see Hank smile at me. This smile was bigger than all the others, it was so sincere. In some way I thought that I got through to him, which is definitely good. I couldn't watch Hank retreating into his cocoon any longer. I removed my hand from his chin and clasped his shoulder. No words were spoken. Then again, words weren't necessary after that amazing pep talk. Well, that was until I caught sight of something underneath Hank's desk.

"Hey... is that a soccer ball?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Perfect Synergy**

"_Out of need springs desire, and out of desire springs the energy and the will to win._" – Denis Waitley

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><p>"Uhh... yes, that's a soccer ball."<p>

"We should use it."

"What?"

"We should have a mutant soccer game!"

"I don't know... I haven't... haven't played in a couple of y-years."

"All the more reason for us to play! Come on, Hank, don't be a stick in the mud!"

"I-I guess it could be... fun?"

"That's the spirit! Now we need to find everyone else!"

Little did I know that that light-hearted conversation would have led to what it did. After it quite literally took us five hours to find everyone I got them on board the soccer train. And that led us to the only place large enough to sponsor our latest endeavour. So, there we stood. In the open lawn that housed that weird golfball structure. Three on three with Angel cheering us on, she didn't pack any shoes appropriate for running. We had decided that the teams would be Raven, Darwin, and I versus Alex, Sean, and Hank respectively. During our trip to find the others I also happened to discover, and by discover I mean I forced it out of him, that Hank was a star soccer player on every team he played with. Sexy. Did I really just say that? Actually, I did when he told me. Do I even need to mention the fact that he blushed? No? Good. But he did. And it was adorable.

Again, there we stood. Sean and myself had taken off our shoes to serve as the team's goal posts. And may I just say that his feet smelled like rotten oranges dipped in vinegar? Yes? Good. Because they seriously did. And it was rancid. So as we all suffocated on the disgusting foot odor we were deciding how to tell the difference between the teams. We couldn't do the colour of the shirts we were wearing because we were all wearing completely different colours. I personally wanted to do shirts versus skins. Not because I wanted to see Alex shirtless or anything like that. Sorry Hank. I was rooting for the street fighter who had wicked biceps. Seeing as we were getting nowhere, guess I would voice my opinion.

"How about shirts versus skins? The boys'll be skins, and Raven, Darwin, and I'll be shirts." I suggested not so innocently. I'm not going to deny any ulterior motives I had that day. They were there. And the force was strong with these ones.

The guys seemed okay with the situation dealt to them, except for Hank, of course. He did _not_ feel comfortable with taking off his shirt. Honestly he could barely stand taking off his shoes much less his clothes. He actually raised his hand slightly. "Umm... could we not...?" He muttered.

I lowered him the most sarcastic look I could muster. "Hank, I'm sure no one is going to make fun of you for your physique. I actually think that Sean is skinnier than you." I offered. Again, sorry Hank, I _reeeeally_ wanted Alex to take his shirt off! _Ahem_. Anyways!

Hank blushed but he looked like he was going to comply. He turned towards his team who were already stripping their shirts. With trembling fingers he began working at the buttons of his flannel. Not that I actually noticed, I was too busy checking out Alex, and Sean surprisingly. I was right, Alex had a smoking body. Don't think that I was crushing on the angry blonde or anything; I just appreciated a well-toned bod. I appreciated that shit like fine art. Even Sean wasn't a complete bum; he had some abs, nice abs, runner's abs. I heard Raven giggle behind me. These boys were turning out to be a right treat to look at! And I actually meant all of the boys. Hank had shed his tie, shirt, and glasses giving him the sexiest stature I had ever seen. Who knew that underneath his sheltered exterior he had a true soccer boy physique? His hair was slightly ruffled, his face and neck were nice and flush, and I couldn't help but notice the faint six-pac that he was sporting. Yes. That day was a good day.

"Now that that's settled," I paused to rip off my own shirt, "let the games begin!"

Too bad the game couldn't begin because the guys were all staring at me like I was practically naked. I had my ace bandages secured around my chest so I wasn't exposed or anything but that didn't stop them from firmly planting their jaws on the ground. With a traditional roll of my eyes I picked up Hank's soccer ball off the ground.

"Yes, I'm shirtless. Can we please get on with this soccer game before I turn thirty?" I asked sarcastically as I juggled the ball on my knees.

"Just wondering..." Alex started. "Why did you opt to be shirts if you were just going to rip yours off anyway?"

"Because, my angry darling blonde, I wanted to see you shirtless so you guys got skins." I gave him a sweet smile and he blushed the slightest in return. How cute. He wasn't the total badass he wanted us all to believe he was.

With a glance towards Hank I saw that he looked a little dejected. "You're not too hard to look at either, Hank." I gave him a wink and continued to juggle the soccer ball.

Finally, someone else spoke. "Can we please get this game started?" Raven complained from behind me. Guess she could be a little annoying but she had a point. We were spending more time talking and less time shoving each other into the mud. Yes, mud. It was probably raining a couple of days prior. I stopped juggling the ball in time to notice Hank was taking off his shoes. It was probably easier for him to run without his feet being cramped into the shoes he insisted on wearing.

"They're just trying to prevent inevitable." Darwin said suddenly. "Because, inevitably, we're going to kick their asses!"

"Bring it!" Alex yelled playfully before he ushered his team to get into position. We did the same. Raven headed back into the 'goal' while Darwin and I were playing offense. On the other team, surprisingly, Sean was the goalie and Alex and Hank were on the offensive. Actually, it made sense. The other two boys probably didn't want to have to smell Sean's nasty feet.

I placed the ball on the ground in between Alex and myself. He was grinning deviously at me. Did the boy seriously think he could take me? Hmm. Cute. But this wasn't my first rodeo buster!

We had instructed Angel to shoot a ball of acid into the sky to signal the start of the game. Other than that, she would just be cheering the teams on. We heard the sound of acid leaving her mouth and I quickly got the ball away from Alex and towards Darwin. Once I knew the ball was traveling in the right direction I started heading towards the other teams goal. Hank didn't miss a beat. He was on me the second I took off. Darwin kicked the ball up, kicked it up a bit more and used his head to hit it over to me. I caught it with my chest. I let it bounce off, thank you tiny boobs, and I ran with it. I was getting pretty close to the goal when Hank tried to get the ball from me. He tried a little too late, I gave the ball a swift kick with my left foot and it went straight into the goal. Sean had made a valiant dive for it but he wasn't fast enough. The ball shot off into the distance as I jumped up and down and as Sean went to retrieve the ball before it was lost to us forever.

"Go Max! _Woo!_" Angel screamed from the side lines. I turned around to acknowledge her but all I saw was Hank with a thin layer of sweat already forming over his pale skin, giving it a slight sheen. Man... was it getting hot or what? I clapped him on the back before running back over to my side of the field. Darwin came over towards me and gave me a high five.

"That was a lucky shot!" Sean cried from off in the distance.

"You wish!" I yelled back.

Raven came out of her goal just then to give me a hug. "You're _really_ good at this, Max! Who knew?"

I gave her a smile as Sean put the ball back in play. '_Time to get back into the game!_' I assured myself.

Sean tossed the ball over his head towards Alex who began dribbling it towards Raven, who more than likely than not wouldn't make a true effort to stop the ball. Didn't matter though because Darwin successfully kicked the ball out from under him and towards me. Well, I assume he tried to kick the ball towards me but it ended up right in the path of Hank. And Hank didn't see the ball until it was too late. He stepped right on the ball and I winced in anticipation of what I _thought _was to come. To my surprise, he didn't fall back on his ass. Hank threw his weight forward, brought his arms down to do a handspring, and just as his body started to follow the direction of his flip he flung the ball right between my shoes and right past Raven. Only one possible explanation for how he was able to grip a ball with his feet.

'_Damn cheat! He was holding onto the ball with his mutation!_' I yelled in my head. I ran up to the mutant who had just landed on his ass, oh _now_ he lands where he should, and was currently laughing at the spectacle he had just performed. I stopped a couple of feet in front of him; he looked _really_ handsome when he laughed. I allowed myself a minute to appreciate his beauty. He didn't look reserved, he didn't look scared; he looked unabashed and happy. I shook my head and continued to approach him. I offered him a helping hand which he took while laughing, still. Once he was standing again I began pounding on his chest with clenched fists.

"You ass! No using your powers!" I said between pounds. Hank was still laughing. We looked back to everyone else, Darwin was going after the ball, and everyone else was so shocked and impressed by Hank they couldn't speak. Finally, Angel began cheering. Alex was the next to break out of his daze, then Sean, and the two boys ran up to their teammate.

"That was amazing!" Sean beamed.

Hank blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head. "If I can't use my 'powers' then I won't be able to play." He said with a bit of a smart ass tone to his voice. Sports really do change some people!

"No chance of that! I call Hank for every soccer game after this one!" Alex yelled so everyone could hear. I punched him for that. He rubbed his arm. "Ow! The fuck was that for?"

"That was for being an ass, Mister Grumpy Pants." Childish, I know. But it was the best I could think of. I can't give a witty response to _everything_ now can I? Alex gave me a devilish smirk regardless. He bent over, wrapped his arms around my thighs, and took me down to the ground. I felt mud splatter on my back and it was cold. Alex tried to get up after that but I pulled him back and quickly got up to hide behind Hank. I saw Darwin return at that point only to have a clump of mud splattered on my head. I turned around thinking I would see Sean or Alex. Actually, it was Raven. I gasped just before I tackled her. So much for a soccer game! Soon, we were all covered in mud and wrestling each other to the ground. Mud wrestling with a couple of shirtless guys? I deem that an appropriate substitute to watching a couple of shirtless guys play soccer.


	8. Chapter 8

**Perfect Synergy**

"_It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better thing."_ – Theodore Roosevelt

* * *

><p>I've already explained to you how most people in the world would never experience anything they couldn't explain with logic. Most people in the world also couldn't truthfully say they experienced something like I did later that day we played soccer together. Pure and utter terror. That is one experience I'm sure would haunt most people, as it haunted me. How I dearly wished that it had never happened at all. It's the sort of thing you think back on and you feel sick to your stomach. And as I was washing the sweat and mud from my skin I can honestly say I had no idea what would transpire in just a couple of hours. Perhaps if I hadn't gotten ahead of myself I wouldn't have lost a close friend to the cold clutches of death. Perhaps I had nothing to do with it.<p>

I'll never know now.

Still, there I stood, completely unaware of what would happen in the next hour. I was stark naked underneath the cascade of steaming water, washing my skin of the filth that had accumulated atop of it. Sure, I'm a tomboy, but I don't like feeling like I'm encased in a sweat cocoon. I don't think anyone does. Luckily for me the showers were in the hallway to my room (which also happened to be where all of our rooms were). In the stall next to me was my dear friend, Raven, who had managed to get her ears plugged by mud. I have no idea how she did it! It had nothing to do with the mud I threw at her I'm sure!

"I'm going to get you back for this!" Raven joked from the other side of the concrete wall that separated us. I laughed at her not-so threatening promise as I began scrubbing my lifeless hair.

The rest of our showering was spent in moderate silence. We both decided it was rather awkward to start a conversation while neither of us were wearing clothes. I finished my shower before Raven, I didn't like to linger. There were places to go, mutants to see, agents to annoy. It was truly the best life I could've asked for. I should've known better. I grabbed the towel I had laid out for myself and I wrapped it around my chest. Then, in a sudden urge to do something spontaneous, I grabbed Raven's towel and whipped her with it.

She squealed at the impact but was unable to chase me due to the fact I was already booking it out of there and she was, well, naked. I pushed the swinging door that led out into the hallway open and started towards my room when I stumbled into someone/something and I dropped my towel because of it. I looked down, grabbed the towel, and put it back into place.

"So you actually have boobs. Who knew?" A certain redhead joked. I glared at Sean who seemed to have just taken a shower as well. His curly red locks were plastered against his forehead and skin still seemed a little wet. Luckily for me he had put on a pair of jeans. How embarrassing would it have been of we were both naked?

I gave the redhead a shove just as he started waving to somebody. I turned to see the heel of a shoe disappear into the room to the right of the showers. '_Wonder who that was_.'

Sean smirked. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Hank redder!"

'_Oh my Gandhi._' I smacked my forehead with my palm. Hank finally got the real life anatomy lesson he so desperately needed but I didn't want to be from me! There was no doubt in my mind that Hank was the sweetest guy I had ever met, he just wasn't my type! Not to mention that he had a thing for Raven! Well the damage had been done. I'd have to apologize to him later.

"Aww, you two are so _cute_." Sean joked before heading back to his own room across the hall from Hank's.

"He's not my type!" I hissed at him.

He gave me a wink and entered his room. The door shutting behind him forced me into action. Raven told me that my room was next to Sean's. So that was either the door in front of the showers or the one on the other side. I tried the one right across from the showers. I placed my wet hand on the handle and tested it, the door didn't open!

'_Is_ _it stuck?_' I gave it a bit of a shove and it opened.

If this was my room I was going to go complain. But it wasn't, so I didn't. It was already occupied and not by my junk. By the looks of it someone had been there for several days, and by looking at the clothing neatly folded and the infinite number of books I would've guessed that it was Charles's room. I glanced around. That man really was a bit OCD. I was about to head out when something caught my eye, Charles' paperboy bag. Cigarettes? Possibly, hopefully!

I ripped open the bag and there they were. Twelve cartons of pure smokey greatness. Why did I have so many packs? Well, whenever someone came to visit me or whenever I went home over holiday breaks people would give me a pack. Those people being my brothers. I've accumulated a lot because it's not really accommodating to the school rules to smoke. You smoked only where you could which was mostly the roof. Problem here was that I was stark naked and I wanted to carry twelve packs of Camels out of a room that wasn't my own. Oh well. It was two doors to my left I'd survive. I grabbed the bag, deciding it would be easier to empty them out there and then bring the bag back.

Carefully and quietly I exited Charles's room. I kept one hand clasping the towel as I scooted down the hall to my own abode. Making sure no one was looking I pushed my door open only to see Darwin sitting on, what I thought to be, my bed reading some sort of book. '_Dammit!_' I swore to myself. It still wasn't my room.

"Sorry for intruding, Raven told me my room was next to Sean's. Clearly it's not since I've been to both rooms on either side of his and I arrived in Charles and Darwin land. No Max land. I'm leaving. Goodbye." I finished my monologue and left the same way I came. I didn't even give Darwin a chance to respond, I just headed on out of there. Again, I was naked. You really can't blame me.

First, I was going to bang like hell on Sean's door to make sure that it indeed was his room. I planted both feet on the floor in front of his door, squeezed my hands around Charles' bag and my towel and pounded on the door with the heel of my foot. Maybe I should try knocking more often. The door in front of me opened and there stood in a muscle tee and jeans: Alex. '_Dammit!_'

I gave him a second to apprehend that I was barely wearing anything before asking. "Is the pothead in here?"

Alex looked at me as if I was speaking Arabic. I snapped twice in his face and he seemed to come back to reality. "Oh, yeah. Come on in." He stepped back to let me through. I walked past him to see Sean lounging shirtless on Alex's bed. He gave me a goofy smile.

"Hey! What can I do you for, miss?" He slurred slightly, my eyes going straight to the joint in between his fingers.

'_Seriously, Sean. Give it a rest!_' I rolled my eyes at the sight. "Where the hell is your room?" I asked bluntly. I was getting sick and tired of wandering around the halls with nothing to guard myself from the world. If someone jumped me it would be very hard to defend myself without flashing him. If I had to though I would in a heartbeat. I should've brought some clothes into the showers like Raven had but I hadn't accounted for the chaos that would transpire after my shower because, well, I sort of assumed our rooms had our names on them. I hadn't even _been_ in my room yet! Raven dropped off my bag in my room for me and that was that! I guess that's what I get for being lazy!

The red head shoved himself off the bed. "Need help finding your room?"

That question didn't warrant a response. I just placed one hand, the hand holding Charles' bag, on my hip and gave Sean the sassiest look I could muster.

"I'll take that as a yes." He smirked. He put out his joint on his jeans, tucked it behind his ear, and headed out the door Alex was still holding open. Hesitantly, I followed.

We headed to our right, past Charles's room, past the showers, and then two doors left of the showers we stopped. Sean made an over exaggerated bow and gestured to the door to his right. I opened it and surely, there it was, my room. My bag was on my bed and Raven left some of her clothes here for me to wear. How sweet of her! And I'm actually being sincere.

"Isn't that Charles's bag?" Sean asked from behind me before I slammed the door in his face. I was still a _bit_ spiteful I suppose.

So I decided it was about time that I put some clothes on after I paraded around the base naked for a good while to give all the guys observing the security tapes a little show. I grabbed a pair of underwear out of my bag, a pair of washed out blue jeans, and a white long sleeved fitted shirt that Raven left me. Oh, and my ace bandages. Can't forget those puppies! I then proceeded to get dressed. Don't want to bore you with the details of that. I quickly dumped out my packs of cigarettes so I could run to Charles's room, toss the bag, and run right back to my own. Carefully I opened my door and peered out. No one in sight. Alright Watson, looks like the coast was clear! But now I had to remember two to the right and across the hall and then _not_ forget that. I creeped out of my room slowly, my grip tightening around the bag.

Quietly I tiptoed back to Charles's room. '_Remember, Max, the door sticks_.' I twisted the handle and gave the door a nice hearty shove. I stumbled into the room, tossed the bag back where I found it, and quickly left before anyone was none the wiser! Just as the door shut behind me the door across from mine opened and a familiar mocha skinned girl peered out.

"What's with all the doors opening and closing?" Angel asked and she sounded a little irritated. Made sense. Pretty sure I had opened about seven doors in the past minute.

"I got lost, but I'm good now!" I reassured her as she shrugged and ducked back into her room. Giving myself just a moment to smile at her retreating figure, I ran back to my room the moment she shut her door. I'll admit, I had a little bit of trouble with the handle. Too used to the countless swinging doors all throughout the base. They were right to believe I was too stupid to operate handles accordingly. After a second I finally got it open. Once inside I finally felt as if I could relax. I fell face first on my bed and allowed myself a second or two of rest.

That second or two turned into a few minutes. When I came to there was someone knocking at my door. I lifted my head from my sheets, out of the puddle of drool I'm not ashamed to admit I made, and mumbled a groggy acknowledgment. The door opened and a bubbly blonde pushed her way through. A bubbly blonde with dry hair... How long had I been asleep?

"Wow, that's not lady like!" Raven laughed, probably meaning my drool. I raised my middle finger towards her as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. She laughed. "Come on pumpkin wipe that shmuck off your face, it's time to get up!"

"Hnnnngh." I groaned.

"All us mutants are going to hang out in the break room again tonight." She replied like I had asked a question.

"Nnnnnn." I continued to groan.

"Yes, all us mutants includes you." Wow, she is really good at understanding my unintelligible mumbles and grumbles! I had no idea I was even saying anything!

I guess I decided to stop protesting because I stood up from my bed, ruffled my slightly damp hair, wiped my drool on my sleeve, and tried to open my eyes. Too bright, but I'd have to grin and bear it. Actually, frown and bear it but that's not the correct phrase. "Let's get this over with." I raked a hand down my face.

"That's the spirit!" Raven grabbed my hand and did that thing that she loves most, dragging me about the base. Joy.

Good thing I was completely out of it because before I knew it I was amongst my friends once more. Granted, I was asleep on the coffee table and Sean kept nudging me with his nasty foot. Several times I nearly fell off the table swatting it away. I could hear everyone snickering, chuckling, chortling, or giggling around me.

"Think we should shove her off?" Raven or Angel asked, I was still too sleepy to determine whose voice belonged to whom but it was surely female.

I didn't even have time to object. I was promptly shoved from the table and onto the carpeted ground. I wouldn't have minded this much except for the fact I was lying on two pairs of feet. Uncomfortable feet.

"Guys, stop torturing her." Darwin called from his position at the pinball machine. I was lucid enough to single out his unique voice.

'_At least someone's on my side_.'

Finally, I gave up. I opened my overly tired eyes, sadly I always get like this after I fall asleep. If I don't get at least an hour I won't be able to function. I then began to lift myself up to standing. Much to the discomfort of the owners of the feet I was crushing. And eventually there I was, standing in front of Hank and Sean, realizing that my left boob really hurt. Must've been what was lying on, Hank's shoes. I then trudged over to one of the arm chairs and plopped down. Three of the four mutants occupying the two couches were laughing hysterically. Hank was at least chuckling silently. I gave them all the finger, regardless.

"Awww, don't be like that!" Sean laughed.

"You're lucky I haven't punched you in the face, ginger boy." I groaned with a yawn.

"Jesus, man, you're _killin'_ me!" Darwin complained from across the room.

"Don't beat yourself up, I've had a lot of spare time." Alex replied. I turned to look at Alex's score. Near 2,000. That boy was damn good at pinball.

When I turned back to look out the recently fixed display window overlooking the courtyard I saw two agents entering my field of view stage left. I was severely hoping they would just pass by like all the other agents had, but of course they didn't! They stopped right in the centre of the window. One of them extended their arms wide and exclaimed, "Oh, I didn't know the circus was in town! Hey, come on honey give us a little," He made a noise mocking Angel's flying and made flapping motions with his hands. Clearly meant in a derogatory way. Ass.

No one obliged the disgusting pig in front of us. I have to admit, I woke up a little after he spoke. He stirred the ball of Dugan rage inside of me. Didn't take much but we didn't sit around while other people were taking flak. We stood tall and knocked assholes down.

"No? Come on, let's see the foot." The agent said switching attention from insecure former stripper to insecure CIA researcher. The agent reached towards the ground and brought his foot towards it, emphasizing his point. Thank God that window was between us or I would've throttled him.

Much to our surprise, Hank stood with a mouth full of cashews. The standing part was surprising, not the cashews. Who didn't love cashews?

"There it is, come on, Bigfoot." Agent Asswipe continued. Hank actually approached him. Well, he was walking in that general direction but I wasn't quite sure what he was thinking. I started to understand when he was walking towards the button that controlled the curtains. Agent Asswipe seemed to make the connections around the same time that I did, "Hey, hey, come on, _heeeey!_" He whined as Hank shut the curtains and gave him a nice proper salute goodbye. Good for you, Hank!

When Hank sat back down I noticed the odd face Angel was making. It wasn't a funny sort of odd, more like a sad odd. Good thing Raven noticed too because I could not deal with tears if my life depended on it.

"They're just guys being stupid." Raven consoled, rubbing Angel's upper arm as she did.

Angel turned to look at her friend with a venomous expression painted across her face. "Guys being stupid I can handle, okay? I've handled them my whole life. But I'd rather a bunch of guys stare at me with my clothes _off_ then the way those ones stare at me." She explained with a stone cold resolute.

"At us." Raven tacked onto the end of Angel's sentence. Okay, even I knew not to do that to a girl who was having a moment. Sometimes Raven really needed to keep quiet and just simply listen.

Suddenly, in the midst of everything that wasn't happening, I could feel something... something not entirely natural. I could feel increased heart rates all throughout the base. And before you ask, yes I can feel heart beats. Only because they're influenced by the natural electrical currents through all living things. But this was strange, it was like every adult on the base was having a heart attack. That's when the thuds could be heard and the high heart rates flat lined. Something wasn't right, and by 'wasn't right' what I really meant was 'was severely wrong'.

It wasn't long before the thuds started catching everyone else's attention.

"What was that?" Darwin asked the universe, "I don't know... something doesn't feel right." He muttered to himself. Darwin left Alex's pinball company to approach the curtained window. Alex followed after shooting one last ball. Actually we all got up from where we were sitting to look out the window as Darwin pushed the curtain button. At a glance, nothing seemed off. But we all had better instincts than that. Years of watching every move we make to make sure no one knows of the special powers we possess keeps us all agile, alert, and aware. Triple A. Just like my boobs. Sorry, trying to break the tension. Back in the present we all craned our necks up to the sky. There were two distinct black shapes floating against the light of the moon. Now that certainly wasn't right.

"What is that...?" Darwin asked just as one of the two shapes vanished in a puff of smoke and the other began to plummet towards the ground.

A harsh tenor scream resonated throughout the base. It got louder and louder as the shape descended. We all knew that it wasn't just a shape. It's just a lot easier to face it if you pretend that you don't know. But when it hit the ground with a deafening crack, that scream fell silent and another one bubbled out of Raven beside me. We all jumped back a bit at the impact, and a few of us jumped back even more when we saw that it was Agent Black bleeding all over the pavement outside the window. The one agent that we all truly enjoyed, he was kind, gentle, and most of all, understanding and accepting. He had believed in mutants (or something similar to us) before he even met us. We just solidified his theories.

I stopped thinking about Agent Black since more and more bodies met his same fate. Raven cowered into me, tears threatening to burst from her green eyes. We watched as agents began filing out of miscellaneous doors. Each of them was packing some heavy artillery. Some of them were in protective, some weren't. Looks like they were going to need it. One of the unprotected agents pounded on the window we had backed away from.

"Get back, get back! Do _not_ leave that room, we're under attack!" He yelled just as a man with red skin in a black suit appeared where the statue once stood with a menacing blade in each hand.

"_Dumb ass! Turn around!_" I screamed, effectively causing the man to do just that. He commanded his fellow agents to shoot. Which they did.

Not that it mattered how many bullets they fired, the red skinned man was, one, probably a mutant, and two, materializing and disappearing before a bullet could even reach him. As the man who told us to stand back started firing the blade wielding possible mutant, who looked dangerously close to the devil, appeared behind him and forced him to shoot out the window before killing him quickly. Outside the other window, a tornado raged across the field we had played soccer on. It crossed paths with the golfball structure, successfully ripping it to shreds.

One by one, the agents began to fall. That eery flat-lining that I felt earlier was happening again. God how I hated that. Not only was I watching these brave souls die, I could also feel it in the very core of my existence. That's when I noticed Darwin hovering over us protectively. I have to admit if I could have anyone be my human shield I would pick, no questions asked, the mighty Darwin. As we watched more and more agents fall, Raven became more and more scared. I ran a callused hand through her blonde locks in a futile attempt to soothe her.

"Stay here my _ass!_" Darwin suddenly yelled, clearly fed up with being told to remain on the sidelines. I didn't blame him, I was getting sick of sitting by and doing nothing too. "_Let's go!_" He then stood up from his crouched position and walked at an increased pace out of the swinging doors. Not seeing any other alternative, we all followed suit. Raven was running rather hysterically towards the end of the hallway that was occupied by a couple of agents who were firing at something else entirely. The base was being completely and utterly ambushed.

"_Get back!_" An armoured agent yelled at us.

"We can help!" Darwin yelled back. In truth, we could've. But an explosion that occurred somewhere else in the building was sending shock waves back into the hallway we were standing in.

We all quickly turned, all except for Raven who was practically frozen where she stood. I grabbed her hand. "Raven, honey, c'mon we need to go!" She still didn't budge. "_Raven!_"

Seeing as my words were next to pointless I pulled her back by force and nearly threw her into the break room. To our right, the last of the agents were being killed off. And to our left, a lone agent was trying to stop the tornado. I don't know how he thought he was going to do that but A for effort! The man was picked up by the tornado easily and was chucked through the last intact window to the break room.

He rolled towards Hank, dead. Back in the courtyard there were two agents left. One being moved around like a puppet, the puppeteer being devil man, while the other was trying to shoot the man controlling him while keeping a bullet out of his fellow agent. He pulled the trigger and the agent fell. Devil man disappeared with a puff of smoke and reappeared with another, killing off the last agent, earning one last heartbreaking cry from Raven. I wrapped her closer to me as she soaked my shirt with salty tears.

Out in the field that once housed the golfball structure, a man in a purplish grey suit stepped through while tugging at the lapels of his jacket. Opposite him the devil man also stepped into the room, never sheathing the blades. We all had turned so we were facing the swinging doors, a few more gun shots resonated, signaling the arrival of the last third of the murdering, destructive trio.

"Wait! _Wait!_ Y-you want the mutants? They're right through that door, just leave us normal people alone, we're no threat-" The weasel didn't even get to finished his sentence before being silenced by a sickening crack. I guess I shouldn't blame him for wanting to save himself, but he didn't have to condemn us in the process.

A man in a dark blue suit ensemble with a bright red neckerchief tied neatly around his neck entered our midst. That wasn't the thing that caught my attention. The thing that caught my eye was the blue helmet on his head. He looked absolutely ridiculous. But I didn't let that fool me. He was dangerous. Lethal. Underestimating him was what was going to put me in the situation I'm currently stuck in.

"Where's the telepath?" Helmet man asked his devil colleague.

Brilliant blue eyes scanned our little group. "Not here." Devil man replied with an unmistakable Russian accent.

Knowing he was Russian caused me to have an even lesser opinion of the devil and his scarlet skin. I know one shouldn't judge based on miniscule things, but he'd slaughtered just north of fifty agents. My assumptions that he was no good seemed to be perfectly on point. Plus, it was the Cold War. I had been brainwashed to hate Russians.

Helmet man smirked. "Too bad. At least I can take this silly thing off." At least he knew he looked stupid. The first step to recovery was admittance. He then removed his helmet and handed it to the hot guy in the purplish grey. "Good evening, my name is Sebastian Shaw." He continued. "And I am _not_ here to hurt you."

Somehow I doubted that to be entirely true.

"FREEZE!" Someone screamed from the courtyard. Oh guy, why couldn't you have stayed down? Pull a opossum and play dead? Ugh, still, there he stood with his weapon locked and loaded, poised and ready to shoot. The three men in suits didn't seem too alarmed. I wouldn't either with their genetic arsenal.

"Azazel?" Shaw implied towards his devil friend. Guess his name wasn't Satan or Beelzebub. Azazel vanished and the reappeared behind the sole survivor before slitting his throat without even breaking a sweat. I don't think he even blinked. He then returned to his spot in front of the window with a sadistic smirk on his face. Those were the types of people who scared me the most. The kinds of people who could take a life and not even bat an eye.

Shaw smiled now that there weren't any humans left in the viscinity. "Friends, there's a revolution coming when mankind discovers who we are and _what we can do._ Each of us will have a choice: to be enslaved... or to rise up to rule. Choose freely but know if you are not with us then by definition you are _against_ us. So, you can stay and fight for the people who _hate_ and _fear_ you, or you can join me and live like kings." He paused his monologue mid stream to look meaningfully into Angel's eyes. "And queens."

I never really got along with Angel like I did Raven but I didn't want to see her go. My wishes didn't seem to matter as Shaw outstretched his hand towards my fellow mutant and she reached for it. With an accomplished smirk on his face, Shaw the Bastard led her towards Azazel.

"Angel?" Raven asked with a doubtful tone.

"You kidding me?" Sean said with his southern drawl.

Angel turned back towards us. "Come on. We don't belong here. And that's nothing to be ashamed of." She gazed into nearly each of our eyes, desperately hoping that one of us would join her.

"We don't belong with him either." I commented quietly. But by the look on her face I'm sure she heard me.

As Shaw turned her away, Darwin reached for her. They had grown close during the time they had spent at the base. Maybe I should've tried to get to know her better. Perhaps she would've stayed. Oh well, what's done is done. There are many things I wished to change about that day. But, sadly, it was too late to fret about that now.

But Raven wasn't having any of this. She tugged on my sleeve to grab my attention. "We have to do something." She whispered in my ear. Yeah, we did, hell I'd gladly lead an armada to strike him down and beg her to come back to us! But I'm not a commander nor was I in any other position to take on Shaw. What could a bunch of kids like us do? I watched Azazel and the very attractive silent man follow their leader out into the courtyard trying to think of a way to best a teleporter, a dude who can conjure cyclones from nowhere, and a old fart who wore silly headgear. I'm sure a swift kick to the face could deal with the old guy. Sadly I didn't know it then, but wind beats lightning every time.

That's when Darwin turned towards me and Alex. He pulled us away from the others and we huddled together. "Okay. We're going to get Angel back. Max, you'll attack first, fry the bastards up like 4th of July barbecue. Then Alex, blast 'em sky high. I'll be protecting Angel so don't be afraid to go all out." He whispered urgently.

Alex went all bug-eyed. "Like hell! I'd kill you!"

"I probably would too dude... most everything conducts electricity." I agreed morosely.

Darwin shoved Alex, Alex shoved back. And everyone knows that that's guy code for 'yes, we're doing this'.

"Stop. I'm coming with you." Darwin called out to the murderers, backing away from Alex and myself. They turned to look at him. Shaw even smiled as Darwin began to walk out into the courtyard. I took that as a signal to start charging electricity behind my back. The more I got juiced up the better our chances would be.

Shaw stepped forwards. "Good choice. So, tell me about your mutation."

We began to walk across the room. I was trying to gauge the best way to approach this but the others were just curious I'm sure. "I adapt to survive, so I guess I'm coming with you." Darwin said, cool as a cucumber. And that was a bad ass line. If this wasn't a life or death situation I would've applauded my friend. But that wasn't the time or place. Sadly, I would never have the time after that moment.

"I like that." Shaw nodded, motioning for him to stand next to Angel. He obliged, taking his friends hand in his; he puffed out his chest.

He lowered Alex and I a look. "Max, Alex!" He said loudly, signaling us to spring into action.

"Get down!" Alex yelled as I unleashed a lightning strike at the trio. I didn't even check to see that everyone else had obeyed Alex. My powers were much more controlled than Alex's, admittedly, so Darwin didn't need to adapt just quite yet and the others should've been just fine. I didn't look to gauge how well Alex did his job. I had fallen to the floor in exhaustion. My mutation really sucked in the heat of battle back them. But in my present state I was still able to hear Shaw chuckle, how was he not dead?

"Protecting your fellow mutants? Feels good." He exhaled slightly. I looked up when I felt the energy pouring out of the sadistic villain. By the look on his face I could tell what he was planning. I wasn't going to take that lying down. I lifted my hand up towards him and began withdrawing the energy I forced at him. He wasn't going to harm anyone else while I was still alive and kicking!

He looked into my eyes. I knew what he was going to do next. And even though I did, I didn't stop.

"Oh! You want your energy back? _Take it_." Shaw threatened as he sent my power back at me.

Had it been the blast I sent at him I would've been fine. But... it was magnified exponentially. I had never held that amount of energy within me before. I was thrown across the room from the force of it, my back slamming into the pinball machine and sending even more pain through me until I... I couldn't feel anything... my body was completely unresponsive. My eyes stared wide at the popcorn ceiling above me, I couldn't move my body. My mouth was open wide and there was the distinct sound of me gasping for air and groaning in agony.

First, I tried letting the energy go but that would kill everyone around me. I could feel it, so I let that idea go. Next I realized that the only thing I could do was watch. Watch as I lost a friend. I looked to Alex. Then to Darwin. Darwin was dying, I could feel that too. Later I would learn that Shaw had practically shoved Alex's condensed energy down the throat of my tougher than steel friend. But now, I was dying inside and out. Once Darwin exploded into millions of pieces. I allowed myself to slip into unconsciousness, knowing damn well I couldn't do anything more than that. As I drifted I felt people trying to touch me, I heard their voices desperate to help and wrought with despair. I heard their pained gasps when they touched my skin. Too bad my body was so electrified that no one could possibly hope to help me. A lingering touch could quite possibly stop their hearts where they stood. Tears trailed down the side of my face until everything went black.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:****TRIGGER WARNING, EXCESSIVE BLOOD. READ CAUTIOUSLY.**** xoxo, Momma Love**

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><p><strong>Perfect Synergy<strong>

"_It is the flash which appears, the thunderbolt will follow." _- Voltaire

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><p>It was so dark. When I opened my eyes I couldn't- I couldn't see a thing. Wetness streaked my face and my chest spasmed continuously. It felt as if I was in a timeless void. I couldn't explain it, but it was as if- as if every single cell within me was being simultaneously ripped apart, coming together again, only to be forcibly separated once more. My body ached for oxygen yet each time I opened my mouth to take a breath I could only let out a choked sob. The pain was too much. I-I couldn't even raise my hand to grasp my chest. What does one do in this sort of situation? What can you <em>possibly<em> do when you can feel your entire existence fading out and you can't even muster more than a bloody cough to cry out for help? I couldn't think of anything...

As I sat there with saliva, blood, and tears soaking my hair and coating the back of my neck, I was able to move my fingers and hands just enough to examine my broken body to see where the damage lie. My fingers dusted over my chest. It felt like there was a gaping hole where my heart should be that was causing an eery numbness to creep across me from shoulder to shoulder. Upon moving my other hand I realized- there was something- something sticking out of my arm. I couldn't fathom what it could be, I just knew that it had to come out. It didn't belong there. I-I had to get it out!

With every ounce of strength I had in my decrepit I managed to reach my other arm across my midsection. Desperate to get it out, my fingers fumbled hopelessly as they searched for the foreign object. Finally, I found it. It was attached to the crease of my elbow and I managed to wrap two fingers around it. I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Everything would be so much better after I got that thing out of me. Quickly and abruptly I pulled as hard as I could on the intrusion and tossed it away from me. I was about to relax when something uncomfortably warm started pouring from my arm. I wish I could just see it so I could fix it! I just- I wanted it all to stop!

I-It was blood. That's when I realized it. Blood was pooling underneath me as it spurted out of my arm in time to the beat of my heart. I felt myself panicking- I-I had to get away from it! I didn't want it touching me! I tried to put as much distance between me at the sickly warm liquid. With my hand planted firmly against whatever was beneath me I pushed off with as much force as I could muster. Not knowing that I had been placed on an examination table I nearly panicked as I began to fall to the floor. I reached out in fear and managed to grab onto something but it quickly wheeled away from my reach sending me face first in the cold hard floor. And just as I touched it I felt the blood started to pool beneath me again. Rolling onto my back I couldn't help but cry quietly to myself. There was no one in the world that could help me. Upon realizing that my sobs grew louder and louder until I was full out screaming in agony and despair.

In the distance I thought- I thought I heard something. Muffled cries, but not quite like mine. No... they belonged to someone else and they were... scared...

"Maxine! _Maxine? MAXINE!_"

Max... I found myself giggling a little hysterically at the sound of my own name and my tears started falling faster. I don't know if I was happy or if the pain had just become so unbearable my brain just decided to switch off so it didn't have to endure anymore.

"Maxine? Oh God... they told me that you weren't recovering from your endeavor but I never imagined..." The voice died out after that, afraid to speak. From the distinct British accent I knew Charles had returned from his trip to Russia_. _He had lifted my head gently into his lap. Slightly delirious I started to laugh which only resulted in me coughing up more blood onto myself.

I opened my mouth in an attempt to say something, anything. Just more coughing.

A hand dusted over my wet cheek affectionately. "Don't try to speak. You've been through quite the ordeal... Hank! Get something to stop the bleeding!" He yelled back to something else who seemed to be shuffling around in the background. They quickly rushed forward and pressed something fluffy against my oozing arm.

"I-I can't see!" I practically pled, despite not asking for anything. I just wanted something to make me feel less helpless!

"It's temporary my dear, I promise. You'll be fine! Absolutely... fine..." He drifted off once more.

His words, they caused me to ache even more. Something I didn't think possible. I knew there was something wrong with me. Never in all my life have I ever felt anything similar to the pure feeling of utter despair that I felt that day.

"Maxine, i-if you can, I need you to dispel the energy you have stored inside of you." Charles continued to soothe me while someone still put pressure on my arm.

I-I couldn't be charged. It wasn't possible. Whenever I was charged I felt this rush of energy pulsing through me, a perpetual high. One of the greatest feelings I've ever experienced. Like anything was possible. Bleeding out on the floor it just felt like I was rotting. Like every part of me was wasting away. In compliance to Charles's words I tried to release whatever energy was inside of me. Without anything being expelled my body started to convulse at the futile attempt. I believe I was having a seizure. I couldn't control a single part of me and more blood and saliva bubbled out of my mouth.

"My God..." Charles muttered. "Why the hell did you leave her alone?!" He screamed at whoever was tending to my wounds. I think- I think he said it was Hank.

"She was practically comatose I-I thought she would be fine on her own..." He muttered quietly. That was definitely Hank.

"Does she look _fine_?" The other person harshly. It wasn't Alex or Sean, meaning it could only be Erik. Once I could finally see again I confirmed my previous assumptions. Charles, Hank, and Erik surrounded me worryingly... protectively. And to thank them all I could do was spit up more blood.

A hand brushed through my hair calmly. I looked at the hand, it was Charles wearing a rubber glove to protect him. I cracked a very weak smile. "What's happening to me...?" I croaked. I was surprised I was able to even make a sound. It felt like my words had scrapped out the inside of my throat as they were formed.

His hand moved to my cheek. "Your powers are running rampant, it's causing you to experience a heart attack, only it's non-stop. I don't think your body can handle much more of it, it's not... your body isn't recuperating in the slightest." He tried to sound soothing. But I wasn't too out of it to here the real emotion behind his words. My breathing became even more labored than before, something I didn't think physically possible at the time, I felt my heart pounding, I felt it practically bruising my sternum, my hands started shaking, and a cold sweat covered my body.

Was I going to die?

"Not while we're still here." Charles continued to try to relax me to no avail. My body was too far gone by that point. I tried desperately to let go of the energy that was teething at the seams of my very existence. It was as if a child had found a frayed edge of a blanket and started to pull. They just kept pulling and pulling and eventually the blanket would be nothing but a long piece of thread. That would be me. I felt my insides unraveling. But what could I possibly do? I hated not being in control. It was possibly the worst feeling I've ever felt.

"I'd get back..." I gasped. Apparently Charles heard me since he began to usher Hank and Erik away from my pathetic excuse for a body. That's when I let everything go. I forced the energy out of me, something I've never had to do before. In the past my powers were like a muscle, the more I worked them the more I could utilize them, now my powers were a steel cage closing in around me at an alarmingly fast rate.

Once all of the energy was out I was surrounded by darkness. My skin always glowed a little so I was never completely in the dark. I reached out for someone, anyone. Someone approached me, in the dark it looked like Erik; I couldn't be sure.

"Her heart is still racing." He said to whoever was still in the room with two fingers pressed to my jugular. Why was my heart being so out of control! I let go of the energy so I should've been feeling tired by then. But I wasn't. I felt more energized than ever. The shakes ceased, the pain left me, I felt like a brand new Max! And I could finally move again freely. I clenched and unclenched my fingers, I felt in control once more. Since I felt some energy was still left in me I nonchalantly sent some into the light fixtures. Dearly, I hoped that I didn't fry the circuits. I was in luck! The circuits retained the charge and lit up the room. I sat up, that's when I noticed Charles giving me the most frightful expression I had ever seen.

I arched an eyebrow at him. "What's up, doc?" I asked, realizing my arm wasn't bleeding anymore. Yikes that was a lot of semi-wet blood. I was practically drowning in it and that couldn't exactly be sanitary.

Charles's blue eyes were full of pain when I looked back into them. "I'm afraid that my initial hypothesis was correct..."

Okay, what was he talking about now. "Care to share?" I asked.

"I don't want to say anything until we run some tests. You are not to leave this room, understood?" He said rather seriously. I looked to Erik and Hank who wore expressions of pain and worry. I felt fine. After feeling like I was trapped for the past however long I felt perfectly fine! There was nothing to worry about... right? I... was I seriously not going to be okay?


	10. Chapter 10

**Perfect Synergy**

"_Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them_." – Henry Ford

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><p><em>Inhale, exhale. Don't freak out Max.<em>

After Charles announced that his cryptic hypothesis was correct, he summoned a CIA doctor that wasn't tending to the few survivors from Shaw's attack to assess my condition. I underwent a few stress tests, running on a treadmill, lifting weights, he checked my lung health, he took my blood pressure, examined my vitals, my hearing, my sight, he essentially gave me a very lengthy physical. But on top of all of that he drew a vial of blood, cut out a piece of skin on the back of my neck and began looking at both things under a microscope. Then he even went so far as to take a sample of my spinal fluid. It wasn't pleasant, being poked and prodded, but I dealt with it.

I just couldn't stop thinking about what had happened earlier. That utter feeling like I was going to die and not being able to do anything about it. God, the look on Charles's face as he desperately tried to help me to the best of his ability, it still haunted me. The panic, the hopelessness, the _fear_. It was too much. I tried to shake the image from my head but even the slightest movement caused a raging headache to course through me. Side effects of the spinal tap. I couldn't move without causing myself great pain. I couldn't do anything but lie on the cot Erik brought in for me. A very sweet gesture, coming from him. I smiled a little, actually. Unconsciously I began twirling the ends of my hair, maybe a last ditch effort to distract myself.

"When can I leave?" I asked quietly, tightening my knees to my chest.

The doctor didn't answer me at first, but he paused slightly like he wanted to give me a reply. "Soon, hopefully."

The smallest bit of human interaction actually made me feel loads better. I'm pretty sure he'd been given orders not to interact with me, so I appreciated what little he offered me. Still, he moved over to a microscope and adjusted the settings while looking through it. After zooming in and out, adjusting the stage, he scribbled something down swiftly, then went over to a machine he'd been fidgeting with since I laid down on that table.

I really wished that they weren't making such a big deal about this whole deal. It was making me nervous and a nervous electrokinetic like me was _not_ a good idea. I just had an overdrive, plain and simple. It's happened before, not nearly on the same scale but the motion still stood. I recovered in a couple of hours and everything was peachy keen. I could understand that they've never seen me do anything like that before, but I tried desperately to reassure them that I would be fine. Obviously they didn't listen or I wouldn't've been held hostage for more than twelve hours.

Without even realizing it, I noticed that electricity was channeling through me. That never happened before. I always had to physically will it to happen, not counting the usual static that just surrounds me at all times. It didn't take long for the charge to take root in my system; actually, it took no time at all. I was overflowing with power and I didn't even notice. _What the hell is this? _I asked myself before I heard an alarm going off.

The machines I was hooked up to started going haywire. They were beeping like mad, trying to compensate for whatever sort of data I was producing. One of them actually died out while the other just about blew up in smoke. The doctor quickly stopped examining whatever he was looking at and tended to the machines. His eyes widened and he started checking my vitals to see if the data was correct.

He grabbed a stethoscope and placed the doodad at the end against my chest. Didn't know it was physically possible, but his eyes got wider again. He then placed two fingers on my wrist to double check what the machines and his stethoscope were already telling him. This time, his eyes didn't widen, they saddened. His gaze was directed towards the ground before heading towards a phone anchored on a wall far away from me. Punching in the number of whoever he wanted to speak to, I couldn't hear anything he said. He spoke quietly, too quietly for me to hear anything. But by the look on his face, I knew the news wasn't good.

Just as he hung up, the machine he'd been working on before started beeping horrendously as it spat out something. He returned to it, looking at the long sheet of paper as it was printed off. I could see a bit of it from where I was and if I didn't know better I'd say that was- a piece of paper. I don't understand science stuff very well. Or any other sort of stuff you learn in school. But from what he'd told me before all of the testing went underway, it was a record of my DNA.

Suddenly, I heard the door behind me burst open. I wanted to look to see who'd joined the party but I still couldn't move from my fetal position atop of the cot. Charles quickly came into view though so no need for me to risk massive headaches. He'd gone over to speak to the CIA doctor and the both looked at the piece of paper that was just spat out as well as four other papers with similar markings on them. Well, not similar, they were all very different from each other but there were tons of black marks on them. Charles furrowed his eyebrows as Doc whispered in his ear. Something didn't feel right. They were too downtrodden for my tastes. Only solidifying my feelings of dread.

Little did I know that they were going to tell me why I would probably die within the next year.

Charles dismissed the doctor and got down so he was eye level with me. "Maxine, I'm not sure how to tell you this..."

"I know my lung health ain't too great, I've been smoking for a couple of years now." I tried to joke to lighten the mood, but Charles's didn't seem amused. Or, he didn't seem to possess the capacity at the time to be amused.

"Please." He begged quietly. "This is hard enough to tell you as it is."

I nodded solemnly, knowing that the news was even worse than I initially thought.

"My dear," he started, "when I found you in Maine it wasn't because I found you like the others. I used a machine to locate mutants based on the slightest difference in our brain waves to average humans. That's how I found Angel, Alex, Sean, Darwin, but I didn't sense any mutants anywhere near where you lived. That, I was certain. When I was roaming around Virginia after I got Alex I heard a family talk about one of the children's friends who lived in Maine and who could control electricity. I thought it strange so I decided to go and have a look. I didn't think you were actually a mutant at first, just some con artist, a street act perhaps. But when you started building up that energy in the courtyard I knew that you were the real deal- or, at least half the real deal. It's terrible- Lord, I should've seen it from the start.

"I scanned your mind several times and saw that your brain waves were purely human. I knew- I _knew_ you weren't born this way. You are a human Maxine, a human exposed to radiation." He closed his mouth to cough. "I'm not just saying this without any proof. I checked your family history as well, it's rare for there to be six siblings and only one exhibits mutant powers and none of the others do. And these tests we've been doing show us that there is a mutated gene that Raven, Erik, Hank, and myself share but you do not, I'm going to bet that that's the gene that granted us our powers."

I wasn't listening to him. I couldn't even hear him anymore. My mind was going a mile a minute. Trying to process everything that Charles told me. I just- I couldn't believe it. I'm not a mutant. It didn't sound natural in my head. I was different. I knew that much, but saying I'm not a mutant was like exiling me. I'm not a mutant, I'm just a human and a cheap parlor trick. Without even realizing it, I started to cry.

"Please, calm down, Maxine." He asked kindly, but when I didn't listen his tone grew harsh. "You're going to accelerate the process if you don't relax!"

With his hand squeezing mine, I inhaled and exhaled several times. Desperately trying to calm myself down. I looked up, noticing the flickering of the lights that was more than likely my doing. I shook my head, ignoring the headache and trying to distract myself.

That's when what Charles said really registered. "What process?"

He swallowed, hesitant and unwilling. "After the incident with Shaw your body has been producing an unsafe amount of electricity. Your body didn't evolve to take this amount of abuse, like how no matter how hard Sean screams, it doesn't affect himself, same with Alex, he isn't harmed by his own energy. But you- you're different. Your body can't differentiate between you, and the electricity. Every molecule, fiber, protein, enzyme, atom, nucleus, every part of you is slowly turning into the substance you control so effortlessly. I feel like you've been like this all your life, but only now is it really effecting you."

I tried to gulp down the lump in my throat. "And what does that mean for me?"

"Your body is - in short - deteriorating." He said bluntly, still hesitant in his appearance. "At the rate your molecules are morphing, I'd say you have, at most, a year. And that's if you don't use your powers. But that will be the case. Now, I've arranged for a car to take you home to your parents and the rest of your family. The car will be here shortly so if you want to go pack your things I'm sure-"

"No." I interrupted, my face stern and unwavering.

I made a promise to Charles. To my country. My brothers all put their lives on the line, Lucas, Devin, Collin, Cole, even my father. The Dugan boys had served the red white and blue flag since they each turned eighteen, now it was my turn. I couldn't enlist, being that I'm a girl. That just meant I would do anything for my country. Do everything in my power to make sure our prosperous nation would not fall to an sociopathic, narcissistic, egotistical, selfish, mother fucking, jack ass, son of a bitch, like Sebastian Shaw. My one true hero, Captain Rogers, did just that in the face of the Nazis. I could take out a guy in a helmet. I was capable of that much.

"I'm sorry, Max. It's already been arranged." He tried to sway me, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"Tell them to fuck off." I growled, shrugging off his gesture and sitting up. "I swore to protect this country in any way I could. A quiet promise I made when I was a kid and I intend to keep it! No matter what you say to me I'm going to be on the front line and ripping Shaw in half if I have to! So don't even try to change my mind. I'd rather jump put my head on the chopping block before I let that asshole go free. You don't get to kill people without any consequences. And he has to pay a price."

In one fell swoop I detached the lubes and machines from my arm and I walked out of the room, while trying to ignore a roaring headache. So that's why you're not supposed to move after getting a spinal tap.

I turned back to Charles as my hand pressed against the door, softening a bit knowing he was only looking out of my best interests. "Just don't tell anyone, 'kay?"

He shook his head as if dissipating a dark cloud, but he smiled. "I won't, I swear. But only if you promise to give up smoking."

My jaw dropped._ Bastard._


	11. Chapter 11

**Perfect Synergy**

"__Faith is not simply a patience that passively suffers until the storm is past. Rather, it is a spirit that bears things - with resignitions, yes, but above all, with blazing, serene hope_._"_ -_ Corazon Aquino

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><p>After the news I got down in that lab I tried to put up that tough exterior everyone expected of me. Or, rather, I expected of myself. If Charles kept his word then everyone was completely naive to what was happening me. Dead in a year if I didn't use my powers. Too bad I couldn't <em>not<em> use them. So hopefully in all of the confusion and work we'd be doing, there wouldn't be much time to sit back and marvel at my non-mutant condition.

As I sat at the bar in the break room, still in disrepair, chugging some whiskey, I contemplated my position. Should I call my parents? My brothers over seas? Little Scottie back home? Party until my panties dropped and I couldn't tell up from down? Nah. I didn't have any time for that. I'd have to settle for a little bit of a buzz and celibacy for the rest of my days. I downed the last of the whiskey just as I saw Erik pacing in the courtyard. He was practically seething with his anger towards Shaw. His hands were tight fists at his sides and his knuckles blanched under the strain. Poor guy. I never did learn what Shaw did to him but no one in their right mind would think his anger was displaced. Shaw had killed one of our own and taken another from us, after murdering however many in the process of storming the base. He was a bastard, through and through. Erik turned around and did a double take when he saw me, I could tell from the look on his face that Charles had probably told him of my condition. Guess I could have a cigarette now. I pulled one out of the pack in my back pocket and lit it with some condensed electricity. Oops, I'll probably only live 364 days now. Fuck it. I took a drag, a nice long one, savoring the flavor.

I didn't notice Erik approaching me, or maybe I did and I chose to ignore him. "Aren't you underage?" He asked, pointing at the empty bottle in front of me. I nearly smirked.

"Who cares if I am or not. Doesn't really matter in the light of everything else." Cracking open another bottle I refilled my glass. I wasn't all that fond of alcohol, but I was in desperate need of it mulling affects. Last time I'd really had any booze was when my brothers were all trying to see who could last the longest and I decided to pitch in. 10 shots of tequila later I was passed out and my brothers were getting chewed out by my dad. Granted I was only 15. You can understand

Erik snickered at my response before taking the seat next to me. "Kids like you are the reason why this country's falling apart."

I took another drag and blew the access smoke in his face. "Are you sure it isn't assholes like Sebastian Shaw?" He gave me a sarcastic look; I just smirked halfheartedly.

For the next couple of minutes we sat in moderate silence, utter silence actually. Erik had poured himself a glass of bourbon and poured me one too. He really was a strange man that I couldn't quite understand. That was fine, he'd seen some monsters I'd never be faced with and it's not like we had many shared life experiences. Still. We could still sit down and have a drink.

"We're leaving in a couple of hours." He said suddenly. "Call your parents, get packed, do whatever you have to. I'm going to tell the driver to leave if you're not there at exactly 11. Don't be late."

He downed the rest of his drink and he placed it back down on the counter. With one swift motion he was walking back out into the courtyard to do whatever Erik's like him do. I gave his exposed back an incredulous look for I was little bit bewildered. So either he didn't know that crucial fact about my life span and I just broke my pact with Charles or Erik did know and just wasn't bringing it up. If it was the latter then that's precisely why I like Erik, he's not a sappy guy. I don't think we've ever had a sentimental conversation in all the time I've known him.

I sipped at my bourbon a bit more before attempting to stand, something I found extremely easy considering I downed half a bottle of whiskey and some change. Too easy, actually. I didn't even feel a little bit buzzed. Charles told me that all of my vital functions would be functioning at a faster rate because of my electrical circuits going haywire. That my body was working about 400% more efficiently than any other human. Meaning my metabolism was probably working like crazy and filtering out the alcohol before it had a fair chance to take effect. I groaned at this realization and I threw the empty bottle of whiskey at the bar. It shattered easily. A few managed to scrap my exposed arms and moments later the wounds had healed and I learned something new about myself. Guess the 400% included excessive healing. Joy.

Contently discontent with the whole situation I headed towards my room, my hand going through my hair in frustration. Several times I had to stop and ask for directions but eventually I got there. I reached for the handle when I noticed that my door was slightly ajar. I nudged it all the way open with my foot to see Raven sniffling as she was putting away my things into a suitcase. She apparently didn't notice me as I walked up to her. I placed a hand on her back, causing her to jump. Shocked yellow eyes looked up at me, tears pooling over like an overflowing bucket of water once she saw me. She threw her arms around my neck barely a second later, crying wholeheartedly into my shoulder.

"Max! You're okay!" She sobbed loudly and honestly.

I embraced my emotionally unstable friend while running my fingers through her blonde locks, smiling sadly. "Of course I'm okay." But I wasn't exactly going to tell her about my death sentence. The details of which I wasn't quite too sure of myself. All I knew was my body was going to turn into electricity one day and I would be nothing but a memory. I couldn't put Raven through that.

Raven's clumsy hands clutched hopelessly at my back. This girl really did make me feel at home. I was going to miss her when I bit it. I didn't want to think about that, not anymore. I just wanted to go wherever we were going and kick some evil mutant ass. All of a sudden Raven stopped moving. I looked into her natural yellow eyes to try to figure out what was wrong. It was as if she were in a trance. Giving her a confused look I waited for her to snap out of it. After a few seconds she shook her head and looked at me.

"There was a screw up with the transportation, they'll be here in twenty minutes." She told me before running back to her own room, wiping away her tears and forcing her eye color to go back to the green she preferred.

I shook my head at the sight. She was such a cute thing. I resumed what Raven had started. Not that I had all that much stuff to pack. I had a couple pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts, a few tanks, a button up, and my tie. Though I still had all the stuff Raven gave me to pack. All those colorful shirts were messing with my visual receptors. There was a reason why I only wore black, white, and denim. I actually don't handle color very well. Frustrated I just sort of grabbed all of them and threw them in, hoping the suitcase would shut despite the overflowing clothes. I threw the suitcase on the floor and started jumping on it. _Shut mother fucker!_ A knock at my door distracted me from my mission.

I looked up to see Hank nervously standing in my doorway with a suitcase in each hand. A smile teased the corners of my lips. "'Sup Hank?" I asked as I zipped my suitcase shut successfully. Mission accomplished.

"I just thought that I- uh... that I could take your bag down for you... i-if you wanted." He said without looking up from his feet. What a sweet guy.

"Thanks for the offer, but I can handle this bit of luggage." I paused and watched his face fall a little. I smiled. "But if _you_ want I'll walk down with you, keep you company with my sarcasm." I have to admit, I had an ulterior motive. I didn't want to get hopelessly lost. What? I'm directionally challenged.

Hank smiled back and nodded briskly.

_How freaking adorable. Note to self, kiss Hank at least once before you die._ I put that little memo in the back of my head as I grabbed my surprisingly heavy bag, still nothing I couldn't handle, and headed out the door with Hank at my side. We didn't talk much. I liked that, I was getting tired of talking. With Hank as my guide we made it to the parking garage in less than five minutes. I didn't even know we were supposed to go to the parking garage. I would've sat on the curb in front of the base for hours and they would've left me here, knowing Erik. Good thing I had Hank!

At the far end of the garage there were two black sedans with the trunks popped. Erik and Charles were talking in front of one of them. When Charles saw me coming he rushed over to me and grabbed my bag. He promptly threw it into the trunk of the sedan he had been leaning against. I gave him a sour look while projecting, '_I don't need any special treatment!_', at him. Charles gave me a sad smile, guess he could hear me then.

'_We can never be too cautious_.' He projected back. Then, as if nothing happened, he continued his conversation with his friend. I turned to look at Hank who was giving me an unsure look. I gave him a smile and a pat on the shoulder before grabbing his bags and putting it in the same trunk my bag was in. The telepath gave me an almost glare while I gave a full glare back. I knew Charles was just trying to protect me but I didn't need protection. I just needed for life to continue as if nothing had happened. _Please Charles, don't do this to me._ I hope he heard me. I really did.

Behind me I could hear the others chattering, signalling their arrival. I turned to look just to be sure. Alex and Sean were talking about something, each with a suitcase in tow, and Raven brought up the rear with puffy eyes. I ran to her. Alex turned to give me a look as I passed him but I didn't give a crap. She looked up at me as I approached her. I just swung my arms around her neck. Her hands let go of the two bags she had been holding to hug me back. She was shaking, that much was evident. It seemed as if everything that had happened in the past twelve hours finally came crashing down on her. I gently rubbed her back as she began sobbing into the crook of my neck. Poor girl. Suddenly, Charles was beside us coaxing Raven towards the car. His face was twisted in a pain I couldn't describe. It was clear that he hated seeing his sister so torn up. He picked up her bags while we started walking slowly over to the car.

When we finally approached the rest of the group we divvied ourselves up, kids were going in one car, momma Charles, papa Erik, and nana Moira in the other. I know, I'm mean. But Moira wasn't the best at first impressions and my first impression of her was that she's a crotchety old woman who has never had fun in her life. She was already in the car so she couldn't hear me explain this to Raven to get a laugh out of her. Both Charles and Erik heard me though, Charles laughed quietly while Erik gave me the most vehement sneer I had ever seen. _Sorry Erik._

"I wonder where we're going." Sean said absentmindedly as he threw his and Alex's stuff into the trunk. Charles and I put Raven's stuff in next. No one bothered to answer Sean. We didn't really know either and we were all still too exhausted to make up any wild theories.

One by one we all filed into the car, Alex and Sean took the front, Hank, Raven and I took the back. Our agent slide into the drivers seat and waited for the car ahead of us to go. While we waited I began braiding Raven's hair, or at least I did my best. She seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, a great accomplishment on my end considering the fact that I've never been friends with a girl in my life, not counting Jules. I actually missed Jules, she kept me sane. Or I drove _her_ insane which made me _look_ more sane. But I digress. She was still someone important to me. Made me sad that I would probably never see her again.

Finally, the car in front of us started their engines and we were off to the races! Not exactly, our driver had to put our car in gear first. Now, we were off to the races.

I didn't know the races required three different automobile changes. Guess wherever we were going Charles didn't want anyone to know. We got out in Philly to ditch the Feds and we got on a bus and got off again in a little remote town in New York. I had always wanted to see the Big Apple. And I was getting a little hungry. Zing.

We then grabbed two cabs and headed off to Buckingham Palace. Okay, not quite. I know you can't take a taxi out across the ocean. Maybe in a decade or so you could. As I thought that I remembered my impending doom, how I'd never even see water taxis, or my 18th birthday, and promptly pushed it out of my mind. I could actually feel Charles in my head trying to keep me from thinking about it sometimes, like a wall over a portion of my memory. I let the telepath slide on that one. Back to the Buckingham-Charles Palace. As we all stood there in complete awe staring at the beautiful building, Sean was the first one to speak. God I actually love that red headed idiot. He could always pull us out of our space.

"This is yours?" He asked.

Charles smiled affectionately. "No, it's ours."

Beside him, Erik scoffed slightly. "Honestly Charles I don't know how you survived, living in such hardship." I actually snickered.

"It was a hardship softened by me." Raven informed our resident German as she shouldered past him to Charles. Her brother kissed her left temple. "Come on, time for the tour."

I smirked at Raven. She was the best. We all followed her bouncy steps towards the Palace, granted we weren't flouncing around like she was. That's just Raven for you. Sean and Alex were shoving each other and Alex started chasing Sean. Moira was happily next to Charles, as was Erik, leaving Hank and myself in the back. He gave me the most adorable smile, he gives me a lot of those, and I felt the sudden urge to hold his hand. I decided it was harmless and let my urges take over, as was the norm with me. My hand grabbed his and I led him towards the Palace. I looked back at his red face; I couldn't stop the smile that was threatening to form on my face. I was going to make the most out of my time, even if it was only a year... possibly less.


	12. Chapter 12

**Perfect Synergy**

_"The fishermen know that the sea is a dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining_ _ashore." _- Vincent Van Gogh

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><p>"Fuck no."<p>

My blonde friend didn't look at me as she inserted a gold hoop into her ear piercing. "Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Ffffffuck no." I repeated, adamant on my position.

"Don't be like this, Max! We've had a rough couple of days we deserve to have a little bit of fun out on the town!" Raven continued to try and sway me.

I made some ridiculously nasty faces towards the back of her head. My psychic signals better make it through to her.

"Please?" She pleaded, finally looking at me, "I don't think Hank will go if you're not there."

That's how she was going to get me to go with her? Blackmail me with an adorable nerd? As if! "Fuck no." I repeated, yet again.

Raven sat down at the edge of my bed, "Please?" She continued to plead, "For me?"

I looked into her green eyes, big mistake. They were the most convincing pair of puppy dog eyes I had ever seen. I felt myself turning into an opinionless puddle of goo. No! Stay strong, Max! You're the daughter of a WWII hero and the sister of bad ass army guys! But no matter what I told myself I just couldn't resist any longer. She was one of my few weaknesses. "Fuck you. I'll go."

"Really?" She practically squealed with excitement.

I only nodded in response but Raven began jumping up and down in excitement. She was so easily riled up. Maybe I didn't want to go through with this after all. Not that I had time to change my mind, Raven promptly started taking my clothes off before I really even realized what was happening to me. She had placed me on the bed and her mutant claws were man handling me!

"The fuck you doing!" I asked/yelled as my shirt was ripped clear off my body.

"Forcing you to put on a dress!" She said deviously. Guess she was dressing me herself so I couldn't refuse. I could still run like hell though. I was a nationally ranked cross country runner.

Next went my shorts, then my ace bandages were practically torn off of my chest. The cold air that met my exposed chest caused me to shiver; my arms crossed over them to retain warmth. So, there I was. Clad in my birthday suit plus my underwear with a girl who was ravaging her closet to find something to force me into. First, she tossed me what looked like one of her old bras. The cup size was way to small to fit her now. Trust me, I noticed. I guess I was going to go along with Raven's madness. I attempted to clasp the bra but had a tad bit of trouble. I hadn't worn a bra, like, ever. After some struggle the infernal contraption snapped into place. My breasts didn't feel as constricted as they had with the ace bandages. Partially due to the fact that the bra was actually too big. I didn't get a chance to complain when something black was thrown in my face. It took me a second to register that it was a dress. A black sleeveless little number that looked rather similar to what I'd seen some hookers wearing on the street corners in the big city.

I gave Raven one of my looks. "Are we hookers tonight?" I asked, wiggling the dress to give emphasis.

"No, we're treating ourselves. But, as a plus, Hank won't be able to take his eyes off of you with that on!" Raven gave me a wink before she began to dress me.

A scoff came out unintentionally. "That boy wouldn't know a romantic encounter even if it bit him on the ass. He's a sexless innkeeper."

"Oh give him a bit of credit. He was really shy because of his mutation." She said as she zipped up the whore dress. Then she retrieved three inch black pumps for me to wear. _Was that girl trying to kill me?_

"I don't know why, I would've loved to be him growing up." I managed to say as Raven tried to squeeze me feet into her shoes. Her feet were small.

Her green eyes looked up at me. "Not everyone is as confident as you are. Remember that." She said with a sad voice. Clearly she was including herself into that category. Hiding in her own skin couldn't be easy on her. Before I could really address it she got up and started picking out her own outfit. Her hand was a clothes magnet, she had a dark green one shoulder dress in her hands within seconds. A few more seconds and she had a pair of gold gladiator heels, and a few more seconds after that she had a matching purse and bracelet. "You have pierced ears?" She asked suddenly.

"I have one piercing. It's a clip." I had actually forgotten about my clip. It was technically two piercings and one earring, it was silver and about an inch in length. It was happily clipped to my left ear, halfway up. Not the girliest earring ever but my brothers thought it would be cool. And it most certainly was. I was very proud of it.

Raven swept my hair off my left shoulder to examine it. She 'hmmmed' a bit, then she went over to her vanity and grabbed a pair of onyx studs. When she returned she put the studs in my hand as she worked at taking the clip out of my ear. I hadn't taken off the earring in awhile so it felt funny.

"You have two piercings! Perfect!" She exclaimed before yanking the studs out of my hand and putting them through the holes in the cartilage of my ear. Man, that felt weird. "Done!" She said with pure excitement as she started putting in her own earrings. We were both dressed and ready to hit the town.

"Let's get out of here." I said with a smirk. I stood up from my seat on the bed and approached the door out into the hallway, wobbling in the outrageous heels I was forced to wear. We were only on the second floor, giving me a very slim chance of getting lost, so getting downstairs was my next challenge. I don't wear heels. I just don't. Steadily I hobbled down the stairs with a hand firmly on the railing the entire time. Raven was right behind me, giggling at my apparent lack of feminine grace. I turned and flicked her off. She continued to giggle. If she wasn't so cute I would've smacked her, probably. Probably not.

Once we reached the bottom of the stairs we had full view of our boys, Alex and Sean in dress shirts and denim, and Hank in black jeans, a white button up, and a black blazer. They were so dashing. Hank looked towards us and blushed something fierce. I thought his eyes might actually pop out of his hand. That's when I noticed it, his hair was way too neat. I wobbled up to him and ruffled his hair. Sexy hair, check. Hank looked more like a rocker now than a shy nerd, too bad he was still blushing like mad. His shirt needed to be ruffled a bit. I pulled it out of his pants a bit and left it at that. I could practically feel the heat coming off of his skin. I looked up at him, he was nearly purple. _How cute._

"Who woulda thought Hank would get molested before we left the house?" Sean stated with a laugh. I turned and gave him a sour look.

"I had a feeling." Raven said. My jaw dropped, now she was against me too? I ended up laughing at their words anyway.

Someone cleared their throat, then I realized that no one within ear shot had. It was Charles and he was in my head.

_'Now I know I agreed to let you all have your night out on the town but no one will get into any major trouble, yes? Also you have to be back before two and there will be no giving any minor any amount of alcohol, correct? Good. With that, I bid you all adieu. Have fun... but not too much fun.'_

It took me a second to realize that Charles was speaking to all of us, yet that statement about minors and alcohol I knew that he could only be speaking about me. I still felt Charles in my head so I decided to get some payback. I surrounded my head with and electrical field and I heard him yelp in slight pain from wherever he was in the manor. I smiled despite myself.

"Come on. Let's get going."


	13. Chapter 13

**Perfect Synergy**

"_Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm." _– Robert Louis Stevenson

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><p>How I longed for a night like that night. A night where I could dance my troubles away and forget about my shitty situation. And I was with my odd mutant family, a raucous group to boot. On my left arm was the bouncy blonde I had grown to love and adore and we were flanked by Sean and Alex. Hank, of course, stayed to the back and out of sight. I didn't know why, he looked hot. Absolutely steaming, in fact. As we pushed open the doors to the Peppermint Lounge we were immediately greeted by exceptionally ear shattering music. A smile teased my lips, Raven squealed beside me. She was so freaking adorable. She ran over to the bar and got herself a mojito, she then dragged me over towards the little girls room.<p>

"You're going to dance with Hank tonight, right?" She asked, sipping her mojito through a straw.

I rolled my eyes. "All the blood in that boy's body would rush to his head so fast that he would faint. Maybe I'll ask Alex to dance."

A fist connected with my arm and I turned to see Alex glaring at me. _Ow?_ I rubbed my throbbing appendage. Boy knew how to throw a punch.

"You're dancing with puppy dog eyes over there." Alex practically threatened with a thumb jab towards Hank who was talking timidly with Sean. He glanced over towards us and I winked at him. His face immediately flushed and he looked away again.

Back to Alex, I gave him a shrug. "I like it when guys ask me to dance. Shows initiative and intent. If _Hank_ asks me to dance with him then I will more than likely definitely oblige." I punched Alex in the arm and wandered off to the middle of the dance floor to mingle with some guys that caught my eye. With one last glance to Hank I saw two sad orbs looking at me as if I ripped out his heart. _Sorry Hank, but this is for your own good. You need to learn to fight for what you want._

"You boys mind if I dance with you?" I asked the three boys I had targeted.

They looked at me as if I was a godsend and nodded sluggishly. Child's play. I didn't even need to use any of my feminine wiles to charm them. Shame. I had few of them and I liked to use them whenever I had the chance. After a moment or two I felt eyes on me so I looked up. Hank was sitting at the bar giving me those sad eyes again. I couldn't give in. I really couldn't. It would do nothing for Hank to give in now. I gave him a suggestive wink and continued my dance.

I danced with those boys for about two minutes before their hands started to wander. I wanted to dance, not get felt up by a couple of sweaty guys. So I switched to a chiller looking couple of guys and they were still just as happy to oblige. They were definitely more fun to dance with, but I really wanted to dance with Hank. I couldn't try to find him though, that would give away my intentions. Not that he would realize my intentions. That's what I truly loved about him; he didn't play games of the heart. Maybe... just for that night. I wish he did.

So I looked for him again, anyway. He was wallowing at the bar and talking to some man I hadn't registered being there before. I couldn't see his face, but I hoped he'd look my way soon. _I don't want to dance with these yahoo's, Hank. Get over here already!_

Eventually I gave up hope. I hate to admit it, but I gave up on Hank for a bit. I focused on the guy I was dancing with. But after about ten minutes of dancing with some hot dude I'll never remember the name of he suddenly stopped._  
><em>

"Excuse me, that's _my_ girl you're dancing with." Some dreamy sounding guy said to my right. I turned to see some brown haired blue eyed rocker boy smoking a cigarette, practically exuding confidence. It took me a second to realize that that rocker boy was none other than Hank. I practically melted where I stood. _Oh dear Lord, take me now._

The guy I was dancing with, and trying to get away from, barely paid him any notice, "Do you seriously think a girl like her would dance with a guy like you?" He then grabbed my ass and pulled my hips firmly against his. God how I hated guys like him. _My ass isn't dough and I'm pretty sure you ain't the muffin man._

"Do you seriously think she'd rather dance with you? You give a new meaning to the phrase, 'face only a mother could love'." Hank retorted. Oh my lord, I loved him. So bad.

I looked up at the blockhead who was itching to do me in front of everyone; his jaw was on the floor. Hank was sexy when he was confident. Or when he was just, y'know, breathing. He held out a hand to me, I bit my lip and I took it. Gladly. He pulled me away from the pig that still hadn't composed himself and pulled me away into the densest part of the dance floor. He placed his hand on my waist and I laid mine on his shoulder. We swayed for a bit, and I can honestly say that I've never been happier.

Sadly, it was too good to last. After about five seconds of that he started blushing uncontrollably and his breath grew labored. Quickly after ran off to the side lines to some couches. He sat down on one, pressing his palms into his eye sockets and putting out the cigarette he lit. I'm guessing he lit up just to look tougher. It helped. But I preferred him when he was his most honest. I sighed, smiled, and sat down next to him.

Hank didn't look at me at first. That was fine. I'd rather be with him in a setting that made him feel more comfortable and gradually come back to neutral. I pulled his hands away from his face, holding them in my lap, letting him know I was there for him. Eventually he looked at me with confused eyes. "I've never done anything like that. Never ever ever ever ever ever ever. It... it felt strange."

Not even thinking, I placed my hands on either side of Hank's face and gently pressed my lips against his. After pulling back I connected my gaze with him again. "Hank, that was the sexiest thing I've ever seen _anyone_ do. Your confidence was through the roof and you looked like you would've punched that guy square in the face." _I was about to myself._

"I wanted to!" He exclaimed, surprising me just a smidge. "The way he was looking at you wasn't right at all!"

Oh I could kiss that boy again. So I did. Upon pulling away I looked up and- he was so flustered, I don't think that first kiss registered with him at all. He was so cute. I smiled at him before pressing my forehead against his. "And that's why I adore you Hank, you seem to know what's best for me even when I'm being a reckless dumbass. Don't doubt what you can do, ever, because that confidence you exhibited is what you deserve."

If I didn't know any better, and I didn't, I'd swear Hank was about to cry. I think he was having a stimulus overload. From the loud music to his inevitable fainting, that boy looked like he was going to have a breakdown. I gently squeezed his hand and out of the corner of my eye I saw an 'EXIT' sign. Standing abruptly I pulled him towards it. He needed some air. Once he saw where I was taking him he practically charged at the door. I laughed once we were outside, knowing we were finally able to talk properly. We were completely alone. It would've been romantic if Hank wasn't busy having a panic attack. He sat down against the brick wall to the club and I sat down beside him.

"You actually feel that way about me?" He said quietly, tugging at the cuffs of his dress shirt. I'm glad he was finally settling down.

I smiled sincerely. "Of course! Just because you're different doesn't mean that you-"

"No... I mean... you... y-you... like me...?"

_Did he seriously say that? _I smiled to myself.

I smacked the back of his head and kissed him again. "You're the dumbest smart guy I know." I felt his lips curl upwards in a smile against mine. And I knew everything was just absolutely perfect, for that moment in time. Before that night I had never experienced such a genuine kiss. I could practically feel our chemistry burning. It was a liberating feeling and at the same time it made me want to tie my little finger to Hank's and never let him go. He gently ran his fingers through my hair and held my head so we could kiss a bit longer, and a little bit harder. Randomly, he'd pull me closer and I can say that I was pleasantly surprised. He knew how to go with the flow. Eventually, we parted and smiled at each other. Still the most blissful kiss I'd ever felt. Feeling content, I rested my head against his shoulder and we remained as such for I don't know how long. But we didn't care.

After a while we decided to head back on in. Our hands were laced together perfectly. And I know it's going to sound cheesy when I tell you that my hand was the perfect fit for his. It was pure hand holding magic. I'd grabbed hold of his hand just the other day but that didn't even compare. He stood and helped me to my feet, which I greatly appreciated since my feet were a bit achy from the heels. Just as we got inside I immediately spotted Raven drinking a daiquiri while dancing with a couple of girls she probably met at the bar. Alex and Sean, well, they were busy dancing the hell out of the dance floor like complete morons. Their friendship was so utterly brilliant. I couldn't help but smile. I then headed straight towards Raven who was giggling her cute little batoot off. Wow. I grabbed her hand and yanked her towards the dancing boys with Hank's hand still holding mine. Not even paying the slightest bit of attention to the whining girls we were leaving behind.

"Heeeey, those girls were cooool!" She protested, obviously drunk. _How many drinks did this little twig consume while Hank and I were making sparks fly?_

"No they weren't. Besides, we're much cooler."

"Truuue!" She exclaimed, giggling ever the more. Raven sure was a handful but _damn _was she adorable.

As we approached the rest of our carnie crowd they stopped dancing. "Don't tell me we're leaving already!" Sean whined. I was about to say yes when the best song ever played on the juke.

"TWIIIIIST!" Several people screamed excitedly. Rightfully so! Twist was the best thing since canned pop. Everyone got up and to dance along. Even shy little Hank was twisting it with the best of them.

I looked over to him and smiled. He was so loose and free. He smiled back in my direction. I couldn't resist leaning over and kissing him quickly, hoping no one would notice. Of course, like that could happen. Raven noticed.

"Oh. My. God. They kissed!" She screamed, getting a few confused glances from people around us. I actually blushed. I looked at Hank again, he was laughing. _Since when did we switch personalities?_

"You're such a freaking jerk!" I nearly squealed as I lightly shoved my sexy boy. Hank laughed again and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. For that one night, everything was absolutely perfect. Looking at the boy who filled me with such joy I couldn't imagine a day getting any better.


	14. Chapter 14

**Perfect Synergy**

"_Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity._" - Joseph Addison

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><p>You'd be surprised at how fast time passes when you don't have much time left. That actually sort of sucks too, you'd think that time would go slower so you could appreciate it more. Not like I haven't appreciated it. I have to the best of my ability. It had been three months, give or take a couple of weeks, since we arrived at Charles' castle, he hates it when I call it that, and all we had done as a collective whole was get into shape. Maybe Charles was relying on us to work on controlling our gifts in our spare time. Personally I was forbidden to do anything of the sort. I ignored that. I practiced day and night. No one knew that there was anything wrong with me and I hoped to keep it that way for as long as possible. According to Charles my condition was progressing dangerously. With any luck I'd last another month. Oh well. No skin off my back. Still, the date was October 23rd, 1962. Three days before my birthday and nearly a week until Russia was to drop their nukes off in Cuba. Everyone was on edge, even if you couldn't see it, you knew they were. That day was the day we were supposed to be challenging the boundaries of our powers. I was outside sitting on a wall wearing a pair of grey sweats and a grey sweatshirt I had altered so it was just a cropped piece of cloth to cover my chest. I had even ripped the sleeves off. Before me was a boy I was severely attracted to and the old momma Charles. They just got back from a run. Hank looked at me and I gave him a small wave. He waved back before discussing something with Charles.<p>

"If you want to beat me this time you have to set the beast free." Charles said to Hank as he crouched into a running stance and as Hank removed his socks and shoes. "On your marks," Hank crouched beside Charles, "get set," Hank glanced at me, "go!"

They both took off like rockets but it was Hank who was taking the lead. Without shoes to hinder him he flew across the lawn. It was incredible how fast one boy could run. And if I wasn't mistaken I could distinctly see him coming up into my peripherals all the way from where he had started barely a moment later. He had taken an entire lap around the house and was coming up behind Charles. With a smile on his face he tapped Charles tauntingly on the shoulder causing him to stop and turn. The telepath laughed, grasped Hank's hand, and shook it. They were too far away for me to hear anything so I ran over to them. I waved to Raven who was working out inside. She smiled and waved back. Poor Raven who had mastered her gift at an extremely young age had no need for these specified training sessions.

I continued over to Hank and Charles as Alex joined them. Wow were we a sight to see, all in matching grey sweats. I ran towards Hank and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Even before my lips removed themselves from his skin I felt the warmth beginning to form there. _Cute._

"With feet like those all you need is a red nose. Right bozo?" Alex joked, clapping Hank on the shoulder as he spoke. According to the schedules we all got it was time for Alex's training to begin. Raven was scheduled to the gym all week, Alex had that day, the first half of the next, and the first half of the day after that, Sean had the second half of those two days and the beginning of the day after that, and Erik had the last half of the last day. That still gave us an extra day to relax, calm down, and to get ready for the prevention of war. Charles had that much faith in us, perhaps a little too much.

"I'm done here." Hank muttered before walking away from the situation. When I didn't follow him he stopped and looked back, beckoning me silently. I chuckled to myself. I ran to catch up with him, twining my fingers in his. We passed by Raven again and we both waved. To tell you the truth she looked absolutely miserable. I broke away from Hank to approach the glass. My blonde friend looked at me funny as I did so. I used my breath to write her a message, it was simple and to the point. I traced a small heart with my finger causing my lovely girl to smile back and making the 'I love you' hand I knew she wasn't nearly as miserable as she looked. I turned back to Hank.

"I'm going to go roast some pigeons, I'll see you later?" I wasn't really going to roast pigeons, which is extremely fun so don't knock it until you try it, I just wanted to go see what Charles was going to have everyone else do. Hank didn't really object. I got up on the balls of my feet and nuzzled my nose against his. How he hated it when I did that. I laughed at his sour expression and ran back to where Charles was standing/talking to Alex.

They both looked at me as I approached them. "Come to play with the cool cats?" Alex asked, clapping me on the back.

I gave him one of my sarcastic looks. "Now why would I be here if I wanted to do that?" When he looked like he wanted to punch me I just smiled all sickly sweet. But when he actually punched me I laughed. I loved that violent guy.

"Now, now." Charles said in an attempt to calm his unruly mutant children. He stepped between us and led me away. "You should be resting."

I couldn't resist, I tapped Charles in the chest with my fist. "Mother dearest, I'm sticking to you like glue."

"You should still be resting." He insisted.

My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I made talking motions with hands and mouth. "Nya nya nya." I whined just before bounding back over to Alex and pummeling him. I didn't see it but I knew Charles was shaking his head at me, like I was dog that had knocked their owner over in excitement.

How I regretted going with Charles to observe Alex's session. The only thing I could do was extinguish. And let me tell you, there was a shit ton to extinguish. I don't know how Alex managed it but he was able to catch concrete on fire as if it were dead grass.

"Sorry..." Alex mumbled every time Charles commanded him to exhibit his flammable talents. And every time I was running the length of the bunker with my trusty extinguisher thinking, 'Meet your _death _you fire _heathens!_' Of course, Charles read my thoughts and chuckled as he watched me celebrate triumphantly when I put out a flame. Extinguishing was fun when you imagined that you were crushing little fire spirits.

Just as I finished vanquishing the last clump of demon, Charles decided to call it a day. I looked at my wrist to see what time it was when I realized that I'd taken mine off. I looked to Charles. "Time?"

He then looked to his own wrist."It's about time for supper actually! I didn't bother to get any groceries or anything..." His hand reached up to hold his chin with his thumb and the knuckle of his first finger. At a distance you might think that Charles resembled a piece of Greek artistry, but he wasn't. He was just telepathic Charles Xavier.

"I'll go." I offered. "Point me in the right direction and I'll walk."

Charles looked at me like a two year old that had just burnt his favorite suit to a crisp with their fire breath. And believe me, that was totally possible. He looked confused and slightly upset at my suggestion. When he acted like this I really missed my mother. She was a gentle little soul, barely 5' 4". She married my father just before she popped out Lucas. Shortly after she was pushing his buns out of her oven like there was no tomorrow. Her name's Alexandra Fuller. And I got all of my physical attributes, minus the height, from her. My father, and all of my brothers, had red hair and blue eyes. Pure Scottish boys. Really I just missed my family. I missed my father, Timothy Dugen. Missed my brothers, Lucas, Devin, Cole, and Collin Dugen, Gabe Dugen-Fuller, and little Scottie Dugen-Fuller.

You're probably wondering why half of us have one last name and the other half had another name tacked onto the end. See, all of my older brothers were born before or during WWII, the war my daddy fought in. When the war had just ended when she was pregnant with me and he told her to reclaim her last name. He had seen so many good men go down, young men who never got the chance to get married and carry on legacies of their own. He didn't want my mother to get forgotten to time like some of those men might. As a collective whole my parents decided it best to combine their last names so their children would carry on their namesake, both of theirs. I admire them greatly for it. I have a very unique name thanks to him.

A hand in my face brought me back to my fatal reality. "Maxine? Are you still with us in there?"

My eyes recognized Charles to be the one distracting me, I practically snarled and nearly chomped his hand. He should know better than to call me Maxine. Though he never called me anything else. As he snapped his hand out of the reach of my canines he smiled.

"Sorry about that, my dear. It was the only way to break you from your trance. The grocery store is about three miles east on the main road. Easy to find, great selection. Take someone with you, will you?" He asked/ordered. Charles had that charm about him, he asked you to do something and he may as well've commanded you to do so. His voice practically exuded that charisma that made you want to please him.

I nodded. "Alex can come, if he isn't too tired." I teased. I threw a wink in my second favorite blonde's direction before turning to go get changed. Again, I know I'm a tomboy and all but it didn't sit well with me to wear sweaty, stinky, charred, grey, sweat pants into town. My nap sack was in the corner of the bunker, good thing too. No chance of me getting lost this time! Just the slight chance of making things deliciously awkward! I stripped down to my underwear and slowly picked out the change of clothes I brought with me. Pair of grey leggings, white tank, and a faded denim jacket. I looked over my shoulder to see the expression on Charles and Alex's faces, Alex was smirking and Charles was looking everywhere except in my direction.

I smirked as I dressed. Boys were easy to read. Once I was dressed I turned back around, gave Charles a wink, and motioned for Alex to follow me. Charles still wouldn't look me in the eye but Alex obliged. He jogged over to me and wrapped a muscled arm around my shoulders. And he was really sweaty. After we exited the bunker I shoved Alex away from me.

"I'm enforcing a restraining order against you, until you take a shower you are not allowed to be less than ten feet away from me." I joked with my hand covering my mouth and nose. Alex gave me one of his devious looks in response before picking me up and draping me over his shoulder. "You are in violation of your restraining order! The cops will be busting down your door any minute!" I started yelling, playfully of course.

I felt Alex's shoulder shrug under my weight, guess I didn't weigh that much to him. "Not the first time I've had to deal with the cops." _Shit, why am I so stupid?_ I smacked myself in the face with the palm of my hand.

"Sorry. I forgot." I mumbled into his shoulder.

"It's fine, not like you said anything terrible."

"Thanks." I muttered as I lightly tapped the back of his head with my elbow. Then it hit me. He was climbing a, seemingly, never ending staircase with me on his shoulder without slowing down. _What is this guy packing?_ Before I could ask we had arrived at the door that led back to the house. Not that we were separated from the house, the bunker was just 10,000 leagues under it. Charles mentioned something about a zany uncle preparing for the end of the world. Gotta love the Cold War.

Alex placed me on the ground without even bending over. I felt like a toddler being taken off their parents shoulders. "I'm going to go change, you stay in the foyer so there's no getting lost." He informed me as he pushed open the steel door. The steel door led to a small closet of sorts but with two entrances. He pushed open the other door as I carefully disguised the steel door back into the wood. Charles had secret doors like this everywhere. If you applied pressure to certain parts of the foundation the wood would get pushed away from you, to the untrained mutant you'd think this was just poor structure giving way, to the trained mutant you would then push the indented wood to the left or right, depending on the secret door.

I nodded to Alex's statement and we both exited the closet. Good thing no one was around because two young folk coming out of a closet at the same time probably seemed a bit risque. Not that I'd pull anything with that guy. Totally my type meaning he was out of my reach. Alex saluted me and took the stairs leading up to the bedroom floor two at a time. I waved back until he was out of site. That's when everything came crashing down. There was a reason why I was trying to keep myself busy. The second I was alone all I could do was think. I used to love being alone. Now I decided I kind of hated it. I hated everything. I hated everything that happened to me, I hated being the only one who didn't belong, I hated everything. I punched the nearest wall. It was wood and my fist went through it pretty easily.

"Fuck it all." I muttered at my bleeding hand. Wooden slivers poked out from the spaces between my knuckles and the shattered wood raked a few gashes on my forearm. I watched as my newly self healing body pushed the foreign substances out the way they entered and I watched the tissue beginning to weave over the injuries I just made. It was really disturbing. As was my life, as was everything. As I walked away from the wall I had injured I saw a telephone sitting on a table. I practically pounced on it. I lifted the speaky-heary thing to my ear to check dial tone, it was connected. I quickly dialed my parents house in New Mexico and prayed that someone was home. After four rings, someone picked up.

"Dugen-Fuller residence." A very familiar little boy said into his mouth piece.

"Scottie?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Max? Is that you!" Scott beamed.

I chuckled. "Yeah, it's me."

"Where have you _been_ mom's been going berserk!"

"What do you mean?" I asked as I twirled the phone cord.

"We got a call from Saffron saying that you'd gone missing from school and that some people saw you being dragged off by two guys and they looked like they were part of the mafia of something!" My little brother said frantically. _Jesus shit, I forgot to call them back then. My bad_.

I sighed, realizing my goof up. "I was recruited by the CIA two and a half months ago." I admitted. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that but I was getting tired of being restrained. And if I couldn't tell Scottie, who could I tell? At that moment I decided to guard my mind with my electrical field. _Sorry Charles._

"What? Why?"

"For my powers, y'know, that weird junk I can do with my fingers." I tried to joke slightly before getting right to it. "And about that..." And that's when I told him everything that happened. Though I hadn't known Scott all that long he was my closest sibling. He deserved to know the truth.

After twenty minutes my story was done. I could hear Scott trying not to cry on the other end. I didn't want to hurt them, but I couldn't be home to spend my last few days, weeks, however long, with them. Scott understood that, my brothers and my dad would too. I was mostly worried about my mom. She'd try and find me and then she'd drag me back home.

"I'm with some really good people right now Scott and we're the only ones that can save the world. Be sure to tell mom that because she's going to go ballistic and we both know it." I told him, choking back tears myself.

I heard a distinct sniffle from the other end. "Yeah, like when I accidentally lit all our stockings on fire last year at Christmas." He said with a shaky laugh. "She was real pissed then."

"Mhmm." I said before wiping my runny nose on my sleeve. "Now I've got to go, take care. Tell mom and everyone that I love them."

"I will. Love you, miss you." Scott practically sobbed.

"Back at ya kid." I imagined myself kissing my little brother on the head, reassuring him that everything would be alright. Too bad I'd never be able to see my brother ever again.

I heard him put down the phone but I could still hear him on the other line. "Mom?" He yelled with a shaky voice. No response. "M-Mom?" He sobbed. My brother was breaking down into tears and I couldn't even do anything about it. There was no bully I could beat up, no cut I could bandage, no puppy I could hand him to forget, no nothing.

"What is it honey? You okay?" My mothers sweet voice said somewhere in the distance.

"I-it's Max." He sniffed.

I could practically feel my mothers relief. "Your sisters okay?"

Another sniff. "She's with the CIA. But..."

"But what?"

"She's dying momma... Max is dying..."

I couldn't listen anymore, I slammed the phone back down and I fell to my knees sobbing. All this time I was avoiding telling my family because the second I did was the second this all became real. Painfully real. And it _was_ real, I was going to die in the prime of my years, one year shy of 18. I didn't know I could hurt this much. I imagined my mother and Scott sitting there in front of the telephone crying their eyes out. Mom huddled protectively over him, trying to tell him it'll all be alright but now able to get a sound out. I imagined dad coming home and seeing them in a puddle of their own tears, I imagined him asking about the boys overseas, if they were all okay. I imagined the look on his face when they told him that it was me, not my brothers. I imagined the holes in the walls that he would punch in his anger, his anger that he could do nothing to save his little girl. I imagined him calling my brothers individual commanding officers and demanding to speak to his sons. I imagined each painful, tortured, expression of my older brothers faces when they were told of little Maxine's demise. I imagined all of it, every tear, every cry, every swear word, every wall punched, every one of the strong Dugen's being reduced to the sadness I felt in my heart. It was so painful. My chest felt like it was going to burst.

"Whoa, Max? You okay?" Someone asked behind me. I turned to see that it was Alex. I also noticed when I turned that all of the lights were flickering like crazy. My unstable emotional state translated to everything around me.

"I'm perfectly fine."

Never in all my life had I spoken such a terrible lie.


	15. Chapter 15

**Perfect Synergy**

"_Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal._" - Albert Camus

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><p>Never did go to the grocery store with Alex. He went, I just locked myself in my room and refused to talk to anyone. Several times during the night I felt Charles probing my mind, many of which he had tried to get me to talk to him. I just couldn't do it. I'd just start bawling again. Charles also reassured me that crying was a perfectly acceptable thing. I still couldn't bring myself to do it. And more than once I heard whispers from out in the hall. Most of it was Raven, but every now and then I heard Hank speaking in hushed tones. I hated hiding myself, I never did before that day, it's just something I had to do. I guess I got my emoting skills from my dad who just grabbed a pint of beer and mumbled into the froth, covering his bushy moustache. <em>God damn, here I am, thinking about my family again. <em>

Back to the problem at hand, it was six AM, October 24th, 1962. Somehow I managed to doze off and I jolted up from my slumbering cocoon, head a complete mess. I had an internal clock ever since the accident, not that I actually needed sleep. I was a ball of pure, natural, energy. I just slept so I could give my reality sensor a break and so I wouldn't start hallucinating (tried it, not pretty). Again, at that moment I wasn't thinking about any of this, I just wanted one thing. Bacon. Nothing like bacon to keep your mind off things. Hopefully Alex picked up a bucket load of it. Quickly I threw on a pair of sweat pants and I made sure I wasn't going to flash anyone by a lopsided shirt. I was all good. I jumped, well, more like wrestled, out of my blankets and headed out my door. At least I tried. Before I could run off to the kitchen I had to step around a slumbering corpse. I looked down and saw, "Sean?"

The red headed goofball snorted and shot up, red hair everywhere.

"The fuck you doin' down there?"

"Wai... minneh..." He flustered, trying to form actual words instead of that garble that was supposed to be 'Wait a minute my dear lady, I seem to have fallen asleep just beyond your threshold. How about I give you a foot rub every day this week to repay you for my despicable crimes? No? How about foot rubs and all the bacon you can eat?' or something of the sort.

I nudged him in the face with my foot. "Come on, wake up, spit it out. You worried 'bout me 'r somethin'?"

"Yeah," he prepped to hack a loogie, "heard you were having at rough night so I decided to see if you were okay." He snorted again, pulled out a hanky, and spat the loogie into it. Gross. Then he yawned, stretched, and stood up.

I shook my head at my lanky friend. I wrapped an arm around his waist, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and we started walking. "Thanks for checking up on me, but I'm fine now. Just needed to sleep it off." I gave him a sleepy smile and he gave me one back.

"That's good." He snickered. "Lucky for you I have the perfect test." We kept walking, hopefully towards the kitchen, I just felt a bit uneasy about what Sean was insinuating.

He cleared his throat. "What do you call a fish with no eyes?"

I thought about it for a second. Not really. "Shit outta luck?"

"A fsh."

I just looked at him like he was a dumb ass. Which of course he is but I wasn't about to argue that.

"Hmmm, you're worse than I thought. Almost terminal. How about this: Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love, and got married. The ceremony wasn't much but the reception was excellent." He said as we turned a corner.

That one got a little chuckle from me. That chuckle also nearly caused me to fall down a flight of stairs. I made a very un-ladylike noise and glared at the dumb ass responsible.

"Now we're getting somewhere! Try this one on for size," He cleared his throat again, "you know what I love to do more than anything? I like trying to pack myself into small suitcases. I can hardly contain myself."

I didn't understand it at first, eventually I did and when I did I barked out a laugh. "Nice one."

Now he was the one to laugh. "Oh I'm not done yet! I've saved the best for last! Okay, you ready to laugh your mother loving ass off?" He asked when we came to the bottom of the stairs and as he placed his hands on my shoulders. This must've been one funny joke.

I reached up and clasped his shoulders in turn. "Hit me with it."

"Alright: I tried water polo once, but I must be pretty bad at it, my horses keep drowning."

That wasn't a really funny joke to most people, it was just my humour. I clutched my stomach and started laughing moronically. "That's terrible!" I managed through bouts of laughter.

"VICTORY." He yelled, it echoed, and raised both arms in the air to represent his victorious win. Finally, I stopped laughing. This is why I've always loved Sean. Before I could think myself out of doing so, I hugged him for all I was worth. My arms linked around his waist and he wrapped his arms around my neck, after some struggle. He was still a giant. After a few seconds I broke away pretending like it never happened. I then waltzed into the kitchen to see mommy and daddy sipping coffee and reading the paper. The funny thing was they were sitting at the small breakfast table facing each other with the opposite legs crossed.

I waved to them before heading towards the fridge. _Please let there be bacon please let there be bacon!_ There was bacon! And eggs, and milk, and yogurt, fruit, juice, more bacon, some sausage links thawing out, and an assortment of jams. Breakfast heaven! I looked to the counter and saw a couple of nice loaves of bread waiting patiently for me next to a ceramic container filled with whisks, spatulas, flippers, wooden spoons, and bacon pokers. Then I glanced around for a toaster. I saw it on a shelf behind me. It was unplugged but I could work with that. I am the goddess of electricity after all! That was actually a really cool idea. I used my electrical field manipulation to put four pieces of bread in the toaster and I used my electrical powers to force the toaster to toast.

"Nice utilizing." Sean said from the table. Charles looked up for a second to see me focusing on the toaster with my left hand and moving eggs, bacon, and sausage with my right. He chuckled though I could clearly tell he wasn't happy that I was using my powers. _Suck an egg, Charles!_

I stuck my tongue out at Sean. "Go get everyone; I'm makin' breakfast!" I waved my spatula at him like Mickey Mouse did in Fantasia with his wand which got me a laugh.

He nodded. "Sho' thang. One group of mutants, coming up!" He saluted me and ran off in that weird lanky way he always did. My eyes rolled naturally. But again, I loved that guy.

To my right I heard one of the two shake their paper slightly. "You missed target practice last night." Who other than Erik would start that?

_Did I actually have target practice?_ I looked at the schedule posted on the wall. Apparently I did. "Well, I must've forgotten." I shrugged and continued making everyone breakfast.

"Now's not the time to be forgetting something so crucial in your training." He said, not looking away from his oh so important paper. _Seriously? Was he completely oblivious to what happened to me not twelve hours ago?_

Well now was the perfect time to show him that I didn't need any freaking practice. I grabbed a fresh pack of toothpicks and opened them. My fingers clasped around a handful and I surrounded each one individually with my own electrical aura. Try and tell me that I needed target practice and I'd make you eat those words. My arm shot out in his direction and each one of my projectiles missed. Erik didn't even move, he just shook his paper.

"See? You needed that practice."

I laughed, crossed my arms, and pointed to the wall behind him. Erik turned slightly to see a perfect silhouette of his sitting form embedded in the wood. He smirked.

"Could still use the practice." He sipped at his coffee.

_Oh really?_ I grabbed another handful of toothpicks. One by one I flicked them at his paper. I didn't flick them hard enough for them to be threatening so Erik still didn't flinch. Ass. But hopefully he got the message I embedded in his paper.

'Oh really? Fuck off Papa German.'

He laughed at that. "Fair enough. But I'd get back to cooking before you burn everything to cinders."

I turned just fast enough to see the smoke. "Shit!"

Okay so it turned out that the smoke wasn't the burning food sort of smoke it was Erik being an ass. My breakfast feast turned out perfect, crepes, pancakes, omelettes, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, English muffins, a whole medley of fruit and juices, and laughs all around. Everyone appreciated it too and everyone was kind enough not to bring up what happened the previous night, not that I couldn't see it in their eyes. They all desperately wanted to know why the tomboy went off the emotional deep end. Too bad I wouldn't give them that pleasure. I would stay silent on my private matters until the day I was pushing up daisies. Sometimes I wished I wasn't like this, sometimes being the times when I caught Hank looking at me in the loving, caring, way that he does. _Sorry babe, nothing personal._

Once everyone was done we all piled the dirty dishes in the sink and marched off to do whatever we were going to do. I, for one, was sticking to Charles again for the day. Since I was, I was forced to help him wash dishes. Why? No idea, I made it. See if I ever cooked again for that miserable lot. Several times during my washing of dishes I flung soap foam at the 24 year old next to me. I needed some way to entertain myself.

"Hank made a device to help channel Alex's powers so, hopefully, today there will be less fire and, therefore, less extinguishing on both our parts." Charles said suddenly in response to my evident boredom.

My lips smiled without me even trying, "That's great, maybe Hank can make something to amplify your massive brain. Or something to keep you out of everyone else's heads." I said smugly with a glare and a sickly sweet smile. I was clearly talking about the past twelve hours when he was trying to get me to open up. No way.

He chuckled. "Now wouldn't that make bothering you all all the more difficult?"

I flung my rag at him. That man didn't deserve my words.

"Now now, none of that." He continued to chuckle. "But in all seriousness, if I hadn't probed your mind last night how would you have felt? Independent or just lonely?" He said with a side glance towards me.

My hands stopped working with a sigh. "Charles, I'm emotionally inept. I admit it, I embrace it. You can't expect more from me than I've given. I allowed you in last night because I needed someone else's voice besides my own to keep me from driving myself crazy. If you hadn't been there I probably would've gone home. Is that what you wanted to hear? Because it's true. I tell the truth when it's better for all involved, usually the truth about my feelings isn't included in that." I explained to him just as my hands remembered how to function again.

As I scrubbed away syrup and grease I felt Charles staring at me solemnly. _That's it. I can't take it anymore. Fuck it. _"You know what, I'm heading down to the bunker. When you're ready to start focusing on people who actually have a chance of living give me a call." I finished my rant with the slam of a scrub brush and the explosion of the light over head. I marched down to the bunker where I was finally alone. I saw the mannequin down the length of the concrete shell and blasted it. Damned plastic slut deserved it.

"Still have some steam you need to blow off?"

I turned to see Alex leaning against the wall in his grey sweats. He had a raw look on his face that made me want to scream. Even though I was, truly, emotionally constipated my emotions were giving me hell those past three months. Everything was full scale all the time, either I was really happy, really sad, or really pissed. It was exhausting. Right then, as you probably guessed, I was one pissed off chick.

"The fuck it got to do with you blondie?" I swore at him as I lowered to the ground in a huff. "Gonne give me shit? Cause I feel like it without you talking." I pulled my knees into my chest and pretended nothing mattered. How did I get so pissed? I was perfectly happy not an hour prior.

Alex didn't say any more. He just stayed where he was not even bothering to look at me. We spent several minutes like that before I finally snapped.

I didn't even look at him as I said this. "I'm dying."

He scoffed. "No you're not, you just feel like shit."

My eyes rolled on cue. "I'm serious Alex. I've been dying ever since the night Darwin died." I snorted. "Wow, that'd be poetic if we had been romantically involved." I pulled my knees in tighter. I couldn't believe that I was admitting to him my deepest secret but, to tell the truth, he reminded me of the only brother that was actually related to me and closest in age, Collin. Collin was a real toughie on the outside but cared about everyone around him a bit too much for his own good. But then he'd also trip you the second he got the chance.

Alex came over and sat by me. "You're not making a metaphor, or whatever, are you." He stated rather than asked. I shook my head.

"Unfortunately, no. I wasn't born with my 'powers', like you guys all were. I came across mine by some freak accident." I lamented with a sigh.

"I don't see how that makes you 'dying'."

I sighed again. "I wasn't born with the immunity to my powers that you were. Or Sean, for that matter. You don't burn when you light up and Sean's brain doesn't fry when he screams. My body roasts whenever I utilize my powers, it's just happening at a much faster rate than before that night when Shaw caused my body to go into overdrive."

And that's when I told my whole story for a second time. He took it in with ease; there really weren't any bumps or hiccups. He didn't interrupt me. He just let me let it all out, again. I explained to him what my body chemistry was currently doing, turning into electricity, molecule by molecule (I was up to tendons and ligaments turning into electricity by that point), and how I couldn't stop it even if I wanted to. He seemed sad when I said "even if I wanted to". I assured him that I didn't want to die but I knew it was coming and, as I told Charles, I would die protecting the world from people like Shaw. After that I swore him to secrecy, naturally, I couldn't have him telling everyone else and having everything go to shit. He promised me that I had nothing to worry about. But he did insist that I tell Hank, at least. That was an immediate no. I couldn't bring myself to put that on Hank, or Raven for that matter. Those two meant the world to me. I couldn't mess up that beautiful picture I had of everyone smiling in my mind. Hopefully I would pass after the battle and I wouldn't have to see the heart wrenching faces of everyone else around me.

_Jesus damn, that's four days away, you're perfectly safe for another couple of weeks. Stop freaking yourself out!_ I thought to myself angrily. I was such a twit, psyching out long before I was to die.

Back to reality, Alex was hugging my shoulders while staring straight in front of him. Guess this was his way of coping, silence. That's when he pulled my head towards his and whispered. "Thanks for telling me."

Fuck. I didn't expect him to get all sentimental. I punched him in the arm. "Don't get so touchy feely on me. I'll puke on you."

He laughed. "You sure you're a girl?"

"Positive."

We both laughed and both helped each other stand up. Good timing too, Charles just opened the door with Hank trailing behind him holding a vest of sorts with a circular disk in the middle of it. "Ah, good! You're already here!" Charles exclaimed. "Hank, help Alex suit up."

Hank happily did as Charles commanded and even smiled in my direction. _Adorable_. That's when the telepath approached me.

"I'm sorry for pushing you like that earlier. I've learned that you need to accept this at your own pace and that I can't be playing your doting mother all the time." He gave me that look of understanding of his. "So when you're ready, I'll be wherever you need me."

I nodded. 'Thank you.' I projected at him. We then returned to Alex who had just finished getting his vest thing on.

"Sexy." He muttered.

"I'd lick ice cream off that." I said rather nonchalantly. Alex gave me a weird look. "Oh, I thought we were talking about Hank."

Oh did Hank blush. Alex smiled at me, happy that I was getting back to my old self, I assumed.

"You shore this will work?" Charles asked tentatively. Okay he didn't say 'shore' there, he said 'sure'. It's just that accent that did it.

"Anything's possible." Hank muttered, clearly still embarrassed. And very unsure.

Charles smiled. "That's good enough for me."

Hank cleared his throat. "Aside from the verbal sexual abuse, well, this is just the prototype. The real one will look considerable better. It will be a whole suit. See, these sensors measure your energy output. This panel focuses it and the excess is absorbed." He said rather matter of factly as he pointed to the different mechanisms in the device.

I looked down to the other end of the bunker where three mannequins stood, the one I shot was on the left. _Looks like we're going to ignore all that. Thank you._

"Try hitting the one in the middle. Just the one in the middle, mind." Charles said while trying to usher me out the door with Hank, "Good luck!" And with that we were securely protected by the steel (probably something stronger than steel but I never did pass Chemistry... or Geology, whichever one it was) door. We heard him blast once, then another time. Charles opened the door to a moderately flame free bunker! _Huzzah!_

"Hank, Hank? Can you go take care of that?" Charles asked pointing to the two mannequins on fire.

"Y-yeah." Was his response before he grabbed one of the extinguishers and got to work.

"Are you alright?" Charles asked Alex who was on the floor.

"Yeah."

"Are you shore?"

"Yeah."

"Can you stand?"

"Yeah."

"'Atta boy!" I suddenly screamed and then pounced on Alex, causing him to fall back down on the floor. He oomphed when my 106 pounds connected with him. I practically wrapped around him like a sloth hugging a tree and I refused to let go. This was a huge milestone and I didn't have to extinguish nearly as much as the day prior.

"Wait a minute..." I paused, looking over my shoulder. "FIRE!" I grabbed my trusty fire extinguisher and ran down to the other end of the bunker. "Momma's back you flaming sons of bitches!" I yelled as I practically jumped on the flaming mannequins. Did I ever mention that I was a dumb ass?

For the next three hours or so after Alex threw a tantrum about energy diapers he kept trying to control his little disk thingy. He got pretty good at it after awhile. He just kept missing his central target; his blasts always veered left or right. He at least nicked his target once or twice. But now it was time for Sean's practice. Hopefully that would be more fun. We said goodbye to Alex as he went off with Erik for his night of target practice and we were greeted by Sean, clad in his sweats. _Glad I don't have any more training, no more sweats for me!_

Sean turned to Charles who had three sets of those headsets to see people wearing when they mow their lawns. "Who's our third guest?" He asked.

"That would be me, sorry I'm late." I turned to see Moira.

_BLEEEEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEH._ Charles gave me a telepathic kick and I sent a small stream of static at his ass. '_I can think whatever I want about that old hag and you can't stop me!_' I thought smugly. I heard Charles sigh. Good thing Moira was living in town and not in the Palace because I wouldn't be able to contain my "gift" and I might've accidentally purposefully electrocuted her. Accidentally.

"Yes, Moira wants to see us in action but she could only come this afternoon and two days from now." Charles informed us.

'_Charles_,' I thought, getting his attention, '_that woman is not ruining my birthday!_' I gave him an exasperated look.

He gave me one right back. '_She's only staying for President Kennedy's address. Nothing more_.'

I humphed. 'Good.' I don't know why I disliked Moira so much, I just did. Something about the way she talked to us. It just made me feel like- well, like a child.

"Alright, Sean, you're going to shatter that window pane of glass." Charles informed the red head while pointing to brass window frame decoration with several small panes of glass out about ten feet in the lawn.

Sean shrugged. "Easy enough." He motioned for all of us to put on the headsets, which we did. We didn't want our brains to turn to stew.

"Ready?"

Sean let out a quick screech and the glass was reduced to dust. Moira let out an amazed sound and Charles laughed slightly. We all removed our brain protectors. And I patted Sean on the back.

"Alright, that's very impressive but now it's important to learn control. What you're doing is incredible. You're hitting a pitch with sound waves," he pointed to the frame, "that have the same resonant frequency as the glass." He looked directly at Sean with pride in his eyes. "That's why it shatters. But this," he pointed to his own throat, "it's like any other muscle in the body. You can control it."

Sean smiled, proud of his accomplishment.

"Alright, try a higher frequency, much higher." Charles commanded as he put on his headset again.

For a second, Sean said nothing. "There's no glass." He informed Charles, too bad the telepath couldn't hear him.

I tapped Charles on the shoulder and motioned towards Sean. He removed his noise cancellers. "I'm sorry, what?"

"There's no glass."

Moira chuckled behind him. "Trust him. He's a professor." She gave him an encouraging look and I resisted giving her a vulgar hand gesture.

But it seemed that Sean was just the slightest bit pumped after Moira looked at him the way she did. Just before Sean started to inhale Moira and I replaced our headsets as well. Charles stopped Sean though before he could really get started. Good thing because Charles's brain was still exposed. We couldn't have that turning into soup, we depended on it.

"No no no," he gently placed his hand against Sean's throat, "this."

Sean looked a tad bit dejected but he exhaled a large amount of air and rubbed his chest, the usual source of his wind. He then gave Charles an uncertain look and was received with a nod of encouragement and two thumbs up from me. Sean chuckled a bit and started massaging his throat. He then let out a true scream, not the usual screeches, his face started to turn red, and my stomach started to churn. It took a few seconds before the brass structure collapsed but by then Charles, Moira, and I were clutching our stomachs on the ground. Sean joined us seeing as he fell backwards as if he were a plank of wood. A big thick one that got hit with a hammer.

He looked to all of us. "What happened?"

"Fluids in the inner ear canal, apparently disruption causes," he paused a second to gag, "nausea. That can be quite handy. Well done."

Sean laughed and nudged Moira playfully. _Am I missing something? If so, oh well. I'm going to puke._ I quickly crawled over to some nearby bushes and emptied the contents of my stomach. _Goodbye delicious breakfast. I knew thee well._ I turned back to Sean and jumped on him. I pounded on him until I felt satisfied and then went off to puke again. Why my newly 400% more productive body couldn't stop me from puking, no clue. I wasn't all that good at Biology either. All I knew was that I should never get on Sean's bad side, if he even had one. That boy could mess some shit up. All in all, a very good day. I took an emotional laxative for my emotional constipation and now I was starting to open up. Hope I don't turn into one of those touchy feely persons now. Not my scene.


	16. Chapter 16

**Perfect Synergy**

"_No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm._" - Charles Kettering

* * *

><p>"Are you sure about this?"<p>

"Yeah, blast me."

"I don't want to k-"

"You won't kill me, stop worrying, I'll be fine! So just hurry up and blast me!"

"How the hell are you going to survive?"

"Uhhh, by using my powers, stupid. Converting energy and all that fun stuff!"

"You're the one being stupid! My powers have killed somebody! Recently too!"

"That was Shaw that did the killing. Now stop whining and hit me with it!"

How did this end up happening? It's a pretty simple thing. It was just after breakfast on the day before my birthday when I was heading down to the bunker to witness more of Alex's training. Rumor around the Palace was that Erik really drilled Alex during his target practice and I wanted to see his efforts in action. I was bounding down the stairs when I saw Hank and Charles lugging in another mannequin.

"Oi! Don't start without me!" I was about half way to them, about 40 steps up, when they stopped in the doorway. I surrounded myself with a powerful electrical field and leapt through the air. I landed right at the bottom step without a single scratch on me. Muchly improved from my leap off the CIA base. That was much more fun though. If you ignored the aftermath.

"I thought you learned better than that." Hank teased. _Hank? Teasing me? Did I jump into an alternate universe? Probably, knowing my luck._

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I never learn." They pulled the mannequin into the bunker where Alex was already putting on his suit.

He looked up when we came in and frowned slightly. _Rude._ "Still with the mannequins? Erik at least had moving targets for me." _Oh. He was frowning at Helen._ I decided to name her.

Hank and Charles carried the mannequin all the way down to the end of the bunker, the usual place. When they set it up to stand, Hank's hand lingered just that extra second on its breast. Perhaps there were dirty thoughts in my perfect mans head. _Good news for me!_

"Wonderful work, Hank. Thank you." Charles said in a way I wasn't particularly sure he noticed the molestation of the mannequin as I had. Either way, Charles took a few steps to my right, his left, and Hank did the opposite, "All right, Alex, I want you to hit the "X" and try not to hit me. There's a good chap."

My jaw sort of dropped and when I turned to see to expression on Alex's face, it was complete disbelief. "You're serious?"

"I'm completely serious," Charles continued, completely ignorant to the flabbergasted look on Hank's face, "I have complete and utter faith in you." Which was more than you could say about Hank who was shuffling farther away from the mannequin. Even _I_ was a little skiddish about being in the same _room_ as Alex when he was using his powers. Oh well. I'd trust Erik's training and trust that Alex wouldn't hurt any of us. I leaned against the wall that the door was on to get out of the way regardless.

"Knock 'em out. Or knock it out... yeah, don't want you hitting them." I encouraged from the sidelines.

He gave me the Alex stare. "Thanks for the support." He said rather sarcastically before he flexed his entire upper body and a single stream of energy shot forward and hit the mannequin, perfectly, leaving the two brunettes unscathed. Alex laughed at his accomplishment, arms rising a bit in his own disbelief.

Hank looked smug from the other end of the bunker. "Am I still a bozo?"

"Yes, Hank, you're still a bozo." I punched him in the arm, the jerk. "But nice job." I punched Alex in the arm again. He punched me back. Hank smiled from the other end and I couldn't help but return it. How I wanted to kiss him but I was in the mood to do something reckless. And by reckless, I mean something downright idiotic.

Once Hank and Charles had put out Helen and brought her down I ran to the back of the bunker. "Hey, Alex?" I called.

"What do you want." He groaned in response.

I smirked. "I want you to blast me."

Charles, Hank, and Alex, all guffawed. It was a funny noise. They just couldn't seem to register what I was saying. I barely registered it myself.

"Could you please repeat that?" Charles demanded when he composed himself. Truthfully it was the only time I heard him speak harshly to anyone.

"I want Alex, the energy diaper boy, to blast me." I said as blatantly as I could.

"Um, no?" Alex said, treating me like I was stupid.

"Come on, hit me with your best shot, I swear on my life that I'll survive. Cross my heart and hope to die." I crossed my heart and gave Alex the best puppy eyes I could muster.

Alex let out a heavy and reluctant sigh. "You can't promise that."

That's when Charles decided to pipe in. "Alex, don't you even dare to consider this! It's absolutely preposterous!" He gave Alex and myself one of the fiercest glares I had ever seen. The fact that Charles even said this told me that Alex was considering it in some corner of his mind.

"Just do it!"

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, blast me."

"I don't want to k-"

"You won't kill me, stop worrying, I'll be fine! So just hurry up and blast me!"

"How the hell are you going to survive?"

"Uhhh, by using my powers, stupid. Converting energy and all that fun stuff!"

"You're the one being stupid! My powers have killed somebody! Recently too!"

"That was Shaw that did the killing. Now stop whining and hit me with it!"

That's how we got to that moment when Alex puffed out his chest and blasted me with everything he was worth. I blocked the energy blast by concentrating a ball of electricity to absorb it, in one way or another. _Wow that's a lot of juice. _It took a while but I successfully converted Alex's energy into my own. I felt the surge going through me, as well as my heart increasing in pulse. My heart was already beating around 300 beats a minute without the burst. It felt like my heart was trying to reach liftoff, or something like that. I ended up laughing, the feeling was nothing short of elating.

Now, why did I do this? Let's just say that in some part of me I wanted to die. I wanted to stop worrying about everything and just end it. Sorry, this story could've ended a bit shorter than I'd wanted. Then, at the last minute, I decided against it. I couldn't put that sort of guilt back on Alex. Not that it ever truly left him, we could all see it eating away at him since Darwin vanished off the faith of the earth. I guess I didn't want to make him feel worse than he already did. Little did I know that my little stunt sped up my decay by a solid week.

"Max?" Hank yelled from the other end of the bunker when he saw me beginning to waver. He was next to me faster than I thought humanly possible.

I smiled weakly at him. "Yeah, honey?"

He looked me over from head to toe, and seeing that there was no evident damage he began checking my vitals. He checked my pupils response to light, he checked my forehead for a fever, but when his hand moved to check my pulse I held his hand.

"No, you don't want to do that." I croaked weakly, still. He ignored my protest, swatted at my hand, and rested two fingers against my jugular. I couldn't say exactly how fast my heart was going, I just assumed it was going scary fast. And by the expression on Hank's face at that point, I assumed correctly.

His mouth fluttered open and shut. "H-How? How is that physically possible?" He said quietly to himself.

"It's just a side-effect of my powers, I'm perfectly fine." I shooed his hands away and tried to stand but was met with painful resistance. My shoulder stung as if I had been stung by a bee the size of a grapefruit. I looked at my shoulder to see Hank's nails digging into it. The more I thought about it the more his nails looked like animal claws. Perhaps that was the heart attack settling down and causing me to be delirious. _Oh whatever._

"Why do I feel like something's terribly wrong with you?" Hank whispered to me. "Ever since Washington you've been acting different." He was holding back tears. _Fuck, I hadn't accommodated for the tears._ I couldn't handle that from Hank. As I felt my pulse begin to settle down I flung my free arm around his neck. His hands shakily stopped clutching at my limbs and hesitantly wrapped around my back. My throbbing arm was then able to join my other arm. I kissed Hank gently on the lips. That's when I felt Charles in my head, fuming.

'Sleep.' He commanded harshly and I didn't have the energy to disobey so everything went black.

A few hours later I woke up in my bed with several tubes stuck in my arms. Damn Charles. Speaking of which, I could hear his voice yelling outside my room. I'd never heard him raise his voice before. I wrapped an electrical field around my head and listened carefully.

"If you _knew_ about her condition how could you have possibly done that to her! She's _dying,_ Alex. She isn't going to recover from what you just did to her! Why- why would you do that! From what I can tell she sees you as a brother, brothers don't do that to their dying sisters!" Charles yelled, rather loudly.

"Charles-" Someone tried to cut in, I presumed Alex, they sounded sympathetic but as if they were going to burst from the anger. Alex wasn't good at being yelled at.

"Don't- don't you even _try _to defend yourself." Charles seethed. "There's nothing to excuse what you've done. She could have less that an entire week left now thank to you! Hank made you that device so what happened with Darwin wouldn't happen again! He did _not_ do it so you could kill the rest of our friends indirectly!" Charles continued to scream, louder than before. _Perhaps everyone was out in town... they'd have to be on the moon not to be able to hear him._ I felt the corners of my eyes get wet. _Charles, it's okay..._

"What the fuck was I supposed to do! Have you ever been in this situation before? Surrounded by people you love and knowing you're not going to make it? Did it ever occur to you that she's sick of waiting? Maybe she just wants to get it over with!" Alex yelled back just as loudly. "She's absolutely miserable! I can't watch her act like this anymore!"

"And that makes it alright?" Charles scoffed. "You justify murder with "_she wanted it_"? That is _completely _unacceptable. Preposterous. You do not have the _right_ to decide when she passes. It's tragic enough that science can't help her, that what gave us our powers is preventing her from living her life! It's just- I can't believe- wait." He paused, back in his normal voice I had to strain to hear him. "I can't sense her thoughts, she must be awake."

_Fuck._ I sighed and let the inevitable transpire, rubbing at the corner of my eyes to prevent any more doting on me than necessary. My door swung open to reveal a red faced Charles and Alex. I waved, or I tried to. The tubes in my arm made it rather difficult.

"How much of that did you hear?" Charles asked tentatively.

I shrugged. "Since, "If you _knew_ about her condition how could you have possibly done that to her!" or so." I admitted, yelling just as loudly as he had when he said those exact words.

The telepath looked at me with a worried look, sitting at the edge of my bed. "Why did you ask Alex to do that to you?" He asked.

"At first," I began, "I did- I wanted to get blasted so it could all end. It's maddening, being stuck with this." I sighed. "But then I realized that he's like a brother to me and I just couldn't pile that guilt on top of what he already felt. And then again I realized that if I wasn't technically "dying" then I probably would've asked him to do it anyway. To see if I _could_ convert the energy. I've always been reckless like that. I didn't want this to change me." I explained, laughing a little.

As I spoke I saw Charles's eyes begin to soften and I saw the frown and vein of anger leave Alex's face. "I guess your right." Charles chuckled. "I seem to remember Hank telling me of a time when you jumped off the roof of the CIA base after just a single thought." He lifted his hand and tucked a lock of black hair behind my ear. "But you don't have to do such dangerous things like that just because you feel you would have, had things been different. We want you to live as long as you physically can... You're almost like a daughter to me." He said the last part quietly.

"So you-" Alex began but was silenced by Charles. My guess was that Alex was going to guilt-trip himself into making this his fault, like he usually would.

That's when I felt something being pulled out of my arm, I winced and looked down. Sure enough the IVs were being removed by Charles. He gave me a soft smile as the last one came out. "There. All better." He patted my wrist lightly before he got up and went to exit the room.

"Wait!" I called after him.

He turned. "Yes?"

I sneezed and sat up slightly. "How did nobody hear you screaming?" I didn't add the "besides Alex" because it was evident that he heard and I don't like being redundant.

At my seemingly naive words, he chuckled. "It's easy for ones mind to play tricks on you, is it not?" He said playfully with a gentle tap to his temple. He gestured as if he took off a hat to bid a girl adieu and left me alone with tall, blonde, and brooding.

"So-" Alex started but was silenced when I ran out of my bed and hugged him.

"Just shut up and hold me." I ordered him. He laughed quietly and did as I commanded.

"I wasn't going to go on about that. I was just going to inform you that we're trying to get the dodo to fly." Alex said cryptically.

I pulled away from him to give him my 'what you talkin' 'bout, dumb ass' look. "Repeat that?"

At that, he snorted, which he tried to cover with a cough. "They're hooking Sean up with wings to see if he'll fly."

"That sounds much more interesting than hugging you." I winked at my brother-like friend and ran out my door. I only paused to listen to see if he was behind me. I heard his flat footed self following me diligently. "So, where are they doing this?"

He pointed me in the right direction, and we started walking. It took us awhile but we finally made it to Hank's room/small lab. They were just finishing hooking him up too. Alex and I high-fived each other and waited by the windowsill in the room next door with Erik. Great seats for the show. For some reason, Raven couldn't be seen. _She's not a wet blanket, where is she?_

Back in the other room I started to listen into what they were saying. "And you're sure this will work?" Sean asked, clearly a bit afraid of jumping out of a window. _Now why would he be afraid. I'd already done it._

"Anything is possible. I based the design on-" Hank began.

"Hank, stop talking." Charles interrupted as he finished hooking Sean into his wing harness, I know this because I heard it. I hadn't magically developed X-Ray vision. I glanced at Alex to be sure of my lack of X-Ray powers and silently cursed to myself. _Damn, one day I'll be able to see through peoples clothes. That's the dream._ "Come on." I heard Charles exclaim to Sean with a loud pat to the shoulder. My guess what he was being led to the window.

That's when all three of the boys let out some sound of surprise. "I've trusted Hank with something much more important than this, you'll be fine." A familiar feminine voice encourage Sean. That's where Raven was. The sound of a window being opened could be heard and all three of us leaned out the window. I wiggled in under Erik while Alex took up residence to our right. Once Raven had joined us by pushing Alex and Erik out of the way to lean out the window next to me the party really started. Sean hesitantly sat out on the window sill with Hank to one side facing us and with Charles to his other side facing away from us, I assumed. I couldn't really see him.

"Promise me one thing? When I die, jumping off this window, you're going to bury me nice." Sean said, a little shaken, to, I'm assuming, Charles.

I could practically feel someone roll their eyes, again, assuming Charles. "Pull yourself together it's only one-" Charles paused, "-story." He coughed slightly, guess he could understand Sean's discomfort.

"I could still break an ankle or something." Sean added, always the optimist.

I turned to Raven. "Think he's going to piss himself?"

She thought about it. "Maybe on the way down."

"I think he's pissing a bit now and will really let go once he jumps." I concluded with a smirk. We both laughed but Erik rolled his eyes at us.

"-right angle and they should carry you." Hank said, discouraging Sean.

"They should carry me?" Sean made a slight choking sound and cast a look to Charles. "That's reassuring."

Smiling, Charles clapped him on the back. "Good luck." To which Sean crossed his chest, praying to God of sorts. "And don't forget to scream!" Charles reminded him.

"Does he think he's going to forget?" I asked no one in particular to which I was shushed.

Sean then spread his arm-wings, looked back for a reassurance from Charles, fell from the window, squawked, and didn't fly. He landed face first in the bushes below, making a nice Sean imprint. We couldn't help ourselves, we all started laughing. I mean, what was that noise he just made? I swear the only time I heard a noise like that was when a crow crashed into our window "SHQRAAAAAAAAAWK". Well, it was similar enough. That crow died because of that impact. Down below I could barely hear Sean mumble. "I'm gonna kill 'em." He stumbled out of his self-made hole and continued to stumble until he got to the door that led back into the house.

Our laughter finally ceased. "Raven, care to join me for target practice?" A surprisingly sweet Erik Lensherr asked our resident metamorph.

"Uh... sure!" She replied, a little shocked. Like the rest of us. "I need to talk to Hank first."

I gave my dear friend a puzzled look. _N__ow why would she be talking to my man?_ Apparently she read my thoughts again because she shook her head at me. Well, good. Nothing risque. I'm not really the jealous type but Hank and I hadn't solidified anything, he could be snatched away with me being none the wiser. She grabbed my hand, gave it a squeeze, and ran into the other room. I turned to see Alex- who was not there. _Where the fuck did that boy go?_ Erik pointed out the door. Apparently everyone was reading my mind that day. _Excuse me, last I checked, Charles was the only telepath on the premise thank you very much._ I ran to the door when I heard some raucous laughter. Seems like Alex had caught up to Sean. I exited the room and rode the banister all the way to the ground floor where Alex currently had Sean pinned. To the ground, that is. And Sean was flailing as much as his limbs would allow.

"Fuck you, man!" Sean swore, flailing. He then rolled them over and successfully pinned Alex by the wrists. "Ha! Gotcha!"

"Give it to me." I said in a real deep and suggestive voice as I approached them. Immediately they separated, to hinder any more accusations. Not that there was any problem with it. I mean, Charles and Erik were up to who-knows-what.

Alex brushed off his jacket. "Not cool, Max." He said as he shook his head and before he smiled slyly at me. His smile looked extra devious with the sun setting. It was a beautiful sunset, don't get me wrong, but I didn't with the homicidal maniac look against it. I don't think I like the homicidal maniac look on anyone, to tell you the truth. It doesn't really tickle my loins.

"Stop fuckin' lookin' at me like that Alex! It's creepy!" I informed my friend even as I found myself slowly backing away. He didn't stop with the look and began advancing towards me. Immediately I broke into a run and I ran like hell. Another note about my powers, they helped whenever I wanted to run for miles on end. Lasting energy. As long as I didn't run until my legs were jelly I felt completely fine. Good thing because I could hear Alex, and Sean's?, footsteps gaining behind me. _Shit I don't want to know what those two have in mind!_

I ran back up the stairs with more speed than I thought I had in my thin little body. A few weird turns, staircases, and fake-outs later I found myself back where I started, minus Sean and Alex. _Now if only I could do that on purpose. _Back where I started turned out to be right outside Hank's room. _I can hide here! Hank will protect his lady__!_ I noticed that the door was already open so I put my hand on it but stopped when I saw Raven sitting on Hank's lap while she looked into a microscope.

_What._

I was a bit- a _lot_, surprised. I almost couldn't believe my eyes. My hands balled into fists, who was I more mad at? Raven for insinuating it (I mean face it, there's no way Hank would yank her into his lap)? Or Hank for letting it happen? And just as I was about to barrel in there, guns blazing, I heard Hank say something.

"Raven... you know I like Max now, right?" He asked with his usual sheepish voice.

I heard her giggle and I watched her stand. "I just wanted to be sure. Can't have a wishy washy boy after my beautiful girl, now can I? He'll just hurt her." She said with a fingertip across his jawline. Her intimate touches were getting under my skin but I could tell that she had good intentions. She flung her hair over her shoulder and started coming towards me. I hid off in the corner when she exited his room. And just when I thought she didn't see me and was going on her merry way I heard her say; "You're welcome." quietly. God how I loved and hated that girl in so many ways.

Carefully I entered Hank's domain, too bad he didn't notice me. He was too busy massaging his temples or digging his nails into his leg. I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "What's wrong." I whispered in his ear.

He didn't even look at me. _Does he actually have feelings for Raven? Fuck._ I was about ready to go out and go Vlad the Impaler on anyone I could when he finally said, "I almost kissed Raven." He admitted. _Fuck_. I was not going to be with a guy who liked two girls in the same house, that was just too difficult.

"Do you like her?" I asked, practically ripping my arms away from him.

Hank turned around in his swivel chair to look at me with sad eyes. "I did, when I first met her. I-I don't know anymore... I don't think I do..." He was barely audible when he spoke. His leaned forward so he could rest his forehead against my stomach. Then he spoke in that quiet voice again. "Please don't leave me."

At that moment I had no idea what to do. I didn't want to let Hank go but could I risk losing him farther down the road if I started to actually fall in love with this man? I really, truly, didn't know how much more pain my heart could handle. Then again, if I stayed with him, I could be the one that he falls for in the end, we could fall in love and have a happily ever after. Oh wait, no we couldn't. I would never see him again after Cuba, I would go home and never see any mutant ever again. I guess- I guess I could allow Hank those last three days of innocent love. I picked up Hank's head and placed small delicate kisses to his lips.

"I'll never leave you."


	17. Chapter 17

**Perfect Synergy**

"_Sorrows gather around great souls as storms do around mountains; but, like them, they break the storm and purify the air of the plain beneath them._" - Jean Paul

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><p>That night I had a dream. It was a really- <em>real<em> dream. I dreamed that I was in Cuba, Shaw was in custody, Angel came back to our side, Azazel and the purple suit guy were both unconscious, the day was saved and everyone was happy. Great, beautiful, I loved it. I turned to my left to see a red haired, blue skinned, yellow eyed, feisty femme fatale that I loved with all my heart, and to my right was a mousy boy with chestnut brown hair, and caring blue eyes. All around us was our friends, our teammates, and both Russians and Americans rushed to thank us. If it had ended there, I would've loved it.

But that's when it got weird.

I saw my family, of course, this being a dream, I didn't find it weird at the time. Mom, dad, and all six of my brothers. Including Gabe, little Gabe. He waved a smokey black hand at me, and that was literal, his entire body was surrounded by a black aura, I waved back. I looked to my other brothers, they all waved with their freckled, blue eyed, faces smiling proudly. Then I turned to Scott, brown eyes, always kind and always adorable. He looked in pain. I moved to help him but Hank held me back. Why wouldn't he let me go to my brother? I looked back at Scott, his eyes started to glow red, and the look on his face got all the more painful. He was screaming. All of a sudden we were surrounded by a raging fire. I could basically feel my skin sweltering under the heat. I looked up again and Scott was running, running as fast as he could away from us. I broke free of Hank and started to run after him but he was too fast for me. I ran for a long time before I looked behind me to see that I was completely alone and in the middle of nowhere. That's when that all too familiar feeling of my body going into electric shock resonated through my body. My skin began to tingle, my eyes began to water, it was getting hard to breathe, my chest started to tighten. I looked at my hands, they were transparent and I could see the current running through them. It was happening. I was finished. My entire body tensed and then I woke up.

I shot up in my bed covered in a cold sweat. I immediately looked at my hands to see that they were still there. They were. _Thank God._ I exhaled a held breath rather loudly, apparently waking up the person next to me. To say that I was surprised was an understatement. I yelped, flailed a bit, and fell off the bed. I rubbed the spot on my head that connected with the wall. _Wait... wall?_ My bed was nowhere close to a wall. I looked around, apparently I was sleeping on the left side of the bed. I never slept there. _Okay, where the hell am I?_

"You okay?"

I looked up to see a pair of glasses looking at me. Hank? I looked down, I was wearing all of my clothes. I looked up, and so was he. So we probably didn't do anything explicit. _Thank God, I can't handle deflowering Hank right now._

My throbbing head brought me back to the task at hand. "What happened last night?"

"Nothing, you fell on my bed and fell asleep." He adjusted his glasses and offered me a hand. I gratefully accepted the offer. He gently pulled me up and onto the bed with a sweet smile on his face. Wow, if I was on any other guys bed they would've been giving me the 'look' while trying to strip me. _T__hat's why I will always love Hank. Well, love? I guess... I guess we were getting there, maybe someday... wait- stop it! Stop it you dumb ass! Your ass is fried in little over or week, or a little under! Stap! Inhale, exhale. Okay. Inner pep talk, success._

I looked up to see Hank giving me a very confused look. Must've asked me something, or something. I cleaned some of the wax out of my ears with my pinky. "You say somethin'?" I asked with a yawn.

He shook his head. "No. It just looks like you were having a nightmare."

_What a good observer._ I thought sarcastically. "Yeah, guess I did." The dream reminded me, I needed to call home again. "You have a phone in here?"

Hank nodded. "Just over there." He pointed to a black phone on one of his many tables.

"You cool if I use it?" I asked, he nodded. "Sweet. I gotta call the parentals back home so I'll be on the phone for awhile." I said, only slightly hinting that he should get out. I think he got it, actually. Good. I wouldn't be able to talk freely with him there.

He nodded again. "I've got something I need to attend to in the other room. You take all the time you need." He straightened his shirt and swung his long legs over the bed. I noticed that he was wearing socks. _He even wears socks to bed? Oh my lord, that boy has awesome feet! What is he hiding them for?_ When he stood, I couldn't help it. I smacked his ass. He turned and gave me the most surprised look I had ever seen. His face nearly turned purple. I let out a laugh, got as close to him as I could without falling off the bed, got up on my knees, placed both of my hands on either side of his face, and pulled him into a kiss. I could practically feel his skin squirming. It made me chuckle.

Just as I was starting to enjoy the kiss I remembered what I had to do. I broke away and twirled him around. "Now, momma's got to make a call." I gave him a gentle push and watched him leave. As soon as I heard the click of the door behind him I ran as fast as I could towards the phone. I dialed my house number wrong several times before I finally got it right. After several rings and a few swears from me someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Uhh- is umm... is Scott there?" I asked tentatively, not sure who I was speaking to. The sudden burst of tears surprised me. _No._ "Hold on, mom? I'm guessing it's mom, what happened to Scottie?"

A sniff. "Maxie? Maxie oh thank god... a-are you still at that mansion you gave Scottie the address to?"

_Weird question. But don't you start crying too._ "Yeah. Russia hasn't touched ground in Cuba yet."

"Scott said that he was going there, to where you are. He- ran away... We assumed it was because he wanted to see you, but he's been acting weird... We don't know why he's going there." She continued to sniff, but sounding a bit better. That's good. I hated it when my mom cried.

"I'm sorry, Ma. So, want to talk? I've got all the time in the world." I offered. Of course I had no idea that mom would talk my ear off well into the morning. Several times I had to admire her energy since it was about three hours earlier for her than it was for me. Go New Mexico and time zones! Had to be about five in the morning for her. Had she always been awake that early? Oh well. It was great talking to her again, even if she was my blubbery mess of a mother. I loved her... Wait, I love her. Not the same thing.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: No, you won't officially meet Scott in this story. Wait for the sequel! xoxo - LoveInChains<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**Perfect Synergy**

"_The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started_." - Norman Cousins

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><p>Do you know how much fun it is to push someone off of something that's, relatively, 50 feet tall? I don't. But Erik sure did. In his defense, he did it for that someone's own benefit. Poor Sean. We were testing out Sean's flight abilities on a much larger scale. Thinking if he had more time to scream, he'd eventually get one out and he'd be able to soar off into the sunset. I shouldn't have been laughing it was just really funny watching him soar through the air making weird squawking sounds before he actually let out a good honest to God scream. He soared up and around before finally landing, more like crashing, in a tree. There we were, four mutants who had just witnessed our friend do something amazing, and we made no incentive to come to his aide. <em>Typical.<em> Erik and Charles gave each other a look, told us that they were going to go train Erik, bid us adieu, and climbed down off of the satellite. Oh, yeah, we were on a satellite. Forgot to mention that. That's the thing that's 50 some odd feet tall. I looked to Hank, who was clutching the railing next to me, and gave him a smile.

"Should we go help the dumb ass?" I asked, playfully of course. But Hank just shook his head. _Why doesn't he want to go help Sean?_ "Really? I thought you'd be all for it, being the good guy and all."

Hank let out a shaky laugh. "Yeah, I guess you would think that." He gave another shaky laugh before turning around, looking at the ground, and immediately turning back. "But I think I'm just going to stay up here for awhile. Fresh air and all." He said as his face turned whiter and whiter.

I was about to question him. That's when I recognized it, vertigo. He was getting dizzy from the height, or he was so afraid of heights that he was going to pass out. Either seemed highly plausible. I reached over and put my hand on his. "I can get you down." I whispered to him. He looked up with so much gratitude on his face it could bring a tear to a girl's eye. Not mine of course, I'm a bad ass, bad asses don't cry. Despite the fact that I've cried enough times since the beginning of my tail. I held out a hand to him. "Come on, let mommy hold your hand." I teased with pursed lips. The dejected look on Hank's face told me he didn't take my teasing well. I ignored it and gently grabbed his forearm.

"I can get down myself!" He argued with a pure face of determination. Ignoring the fact that his face was a light pink. He was just trying to put on a brave face for me, didn't want me babying him. And I didn't want that either. My hand slid down to clasp his; my fingers twined with his.

"You don't have to be brave for me. I like a guy who can admit his weaknesses." I informed him with a quick peck on the lips. He looked down at his feet and I fought back to urge to slap him. "Your feet are not a weakness, Hank. They're one of your greatest strengths, rivaled only by that Harvard sized brain of yours." I said, hoping he would take my compliment without complaint. He didn't look like he was going to object, that sure was a step in the right direction. "'Atta boy." Was all I had to say before I summoned a powerful electrical field around us and coaxed him towards the edge.

I heard him swallow past something, yeah, I actually heard it. "You sure I'll make it to the ground in one piece?" He asked while pointing a shaky finger at the ground.

I put on a mock face of shock. "Don't you trust me?" My hand that wasn't twined with his shot up to my chest in a fake expression of hurt.

"I... I trust you." He said with a quick nod of his head. _Why did it sound like he was trying to convince himself more than me?_ I appreciated it all the same. I took two steps out into thin air as if I was walking on a solid surface. I pulled slightly on Hank and he just wrapped both arms around me, clinging to me for dear life. _Aww, baby. _Gently, I decreased the resistance in my electrical field and we found ourselves lowering at a slow speed to the ground. All the while Hank was quaking like Scott had when we convinced him to participate in the Dugen-Fuller sibling initiation. There was no sibling initiation we just wanted an excuse to shoot apples off the top of his noggin. What? We hit every single one dead on! With my mind being completely occupied I didn't hear Hank when he asked me something. Actually, I didn't hear him because he was mumbling into the crook of my neck. But I felt his mouth move so that's something.

"What was that?" I asked.

He lifted his head up so I could see, and hear, him. His eyes were squeezed shut. "Are we almost to the ground?" He asked in a shaky voice.

"'Bout half way there."

He didn't say anything, but he did nod before diving back into my throat. Wow, I haven't said that not meaning something sexual and, might I add, rather unpleasant on the receiving end. Glad that wasn't what Hank was doing. Finally after a minute or so, I felt my feet touch ground. As soon as I felt the ground I felt Hank loosen up. He stood upright and planted small kisses on my lips, cheeks, forehead, nose, chin, eyelids, and pretty much wherever he could that was above my neck, meanwhile my face was all scrunched up in response. After twenty seconds of that Hank pulled back looking completely flabbergasted. His mouth kept fluttering open and shut. "I-I'm so sorry."

My eyebrow arched and I laughed. "Why?"

"I-I've never acted so- so rashly before!" He explained as he wiped off his mouth with a handkerchief. Without even thinking I smacked the hankie out of his hands and pressed my lips against his rather forcefully. At first, Hank was adamant in not participating in the kiss at all but his lips eventually relaxed and he kissed me back. It was, in a word, fantastic. Hank's hand reached up nervously to cradle my neck and to pull me closer to him. He was practically going wild, well, wild for him, and I loved it. That's when I decided to try something really bold, I opened my mouth and touched my tongue to his. I could practically feel his shock, but he didn't stop, which was a great leap in our relationship. We continued like that for a short while before our eardrums felt like they were going to explode. I broke away and pressed my palms into my ears.

"LISTEN. IT'S GREAT THAT YOU TWO ARE HAVING A MOMENT AND ALL, BUT WILL YOU STOP SUCKING EACH OTHERS FACE OFF AND GET ME DOWN?"

I looked up and saw Sean in the tree I hadn't realized that we were underneath, dangling, with his foot the only thing keeping him up, and might I add that I don't think that ankles were supposed to bend that way. "Shit." I muttered. Without really thinking I leapt up and started weaving my way up through the branches towards my friend. _I think he purposely crashed into the tallest tree on the lot_. It seriously felt like he was thirty feet up. After a minute or so I finally made my way up to him. _But how exactly am I going to do this?_ _If I remove his ankle he'll fall several feet and probably break his neck. So how am I supposed to get him down? Oh well, I'll wing it_. I climbed up a few more branches so Sean's arms were dangling near my ankles. "Kay, Sean, you're going to

He didn't even hesitate he wrapped my legs in a vice grip. Probably scared for his life. _What an obedient guy_. So this is what I was going to do. I was going to unhinge Sean's ankle and then I was going to wrap an arm around his legs and try to flatten him out before I set him upright. Smart plan, right? Stop judging me. I'm not Einstein. I don't do details very well. But here's how it all played out, I managed to get Sean's ankle out from between the branches it was stuck in, that's when it all went to shit. I didn't account for how heavy Sean was so we just dropped like a rock. I managed to wrap an arm around the closest branch before we fell too far. Sure, it killed my elbow to have done that but the damaged tissue quickly healed itself or replaced itself, whatever damaged tissue did, all I know is it stopped hurting pretty quickly after it started. I hefted myself up so the branch was underneath my arm and so I was more stable to assess the situation we were in. If Sean grabbed that one branch a couple inches below him I could edge my way down with his feet. That was my plan and I was sticking to it.

"Hey, see that branch below you?" I called to him, struggling to hold onto his foot in the crook of the elbow that wasn't keeping us up.

I could practically feel Sean trembling but he looked anyway. "Mhmmm." He barely audited up to me.

Without really realizing it, I grunted. "Good, I'm going to lower you to it, grab hold and I'll bring your feet down." I instructed.

Sean's head whipped up to look at me. "Are you nuts? That's like two whole feet away!" _Really? Looks like less than one from where I'm dangling, guess that's a perspective issue._

"You rather we stay up here until my body exhausts all the energy I got and then we both fall to our deaths?" He didn't respond. "Yeah! I didn't think so! Now, I have about 18 inches I can lower you, safely. I'm going to hang onto the branch with my elbow and I'm going to hold onto your foot. Got it?" I yelled at him, he nodded uneasily. _Whatever. Time to see if I have any brains in my skull_.

Slowly I shifted to hang into the branch with my elbow instead of under my arm which successfully lowered him eight inches or so. And even more slowly I grabbed onto Sean's foot and uncurled my arm, my bicep was straining underneath Sean's gargantuan weight. Practically screaming at me. I looked down to see red hair and grey sleeved arms flailing towards the branch. "Can't reach!" Sean struggled to say. _Oh fuck._

I groaned. "Why can't you weigh less?"

"Hey! I only weigh 200 lbs!" He spat back.

"Jesus Christ! You're one scrawny kid, where the fuck you get that weight from?" I asked through my teeth, as my jaw was clenched shut from the strain.

"I wrestled in High School!" He countered, that sort of half explained it. I had no choice, I had to use my entire arm span to lower him the rest of the way. With a speed, or lack of it, rivalling paint drying, I used all of my strength not to drop Sean and to hang onto the branch with nothing but my fingers. My arms were screaming in pain and this time it wasn't going away. The constant strain wasn't allowing my body to heal itself. Sean yelling, "I got it!" distracted me from my excruciating pain. I looked down and saw a branch barely skimming my foot. I lowered Sean's ankle onto it and carefully dropped down. I wobbled a bit on the landing. To my left was another branch in my reach, I was just about to grab onto it when I heard, "I can get down on my own now!"

Just to be sure I looked down, all the branches from there on down were nice and tightly packed. Guess that was how I made it up there with relative ease. I let out a sigh of relief and went to wipe the sweat from my brow when I realized that I couldn't move my arms. _What the hell! How long have we been up here?_

"You comin'?" Sean asked, now standing upright a few feet below me.

Sluggishly, I nodded. "Just give a minute." At that he shrugged and continued his descent in a style very similar to a primate's. I knew he was a monkey. Or an orangutan with that orange hair of his.

I forgot how long I was stuck up there, but my arms weren't getting any better. Wonder if I was going to spend my entire birthday up a tree. Yeah, I didn't mention it earlier, it was my 17th birthday. Pleasant way to spend it right? It couldn't have been twenty minutes before I started going insane. There isn't anything to do in a tree by yourself! I'd know! I've had to climb up enough of them in my short lifetime!

"Max? Are you still up there?" Someone called from down on the ground.

"Yeeeeeeeeees!" I whined. "I can't use my arms!"

In a flash, whoever was on the ground practically jumped from where they were to where I was. I know that was just the exhaustion playing tricks with my mind, but let's not think about that. What I said sounded cooler. I felt a hand sneak under my legs and another wrap around my back. And before I knew it, I was on the ground. _Thanks you mind games!_ I looked up at my saviour and it was none other than Hank McCoy. _Awwww! He braved his fear of heights to rescue me!_ His blue eyes were full of sincere kindness as he examined my arms and shoulders. "Looks like they're dislocated." He said conclusively. _Oh joy!_

"You know how to put it back in?" I asked, watching the kindness in his eyes turn to fear and worry.

I saw his Adam apple bob up and down. "Y-Yes." He stammered.

I didn't really want to put him through that but we were too far away from the house to call upon anyone else. _Sorry Hank_. "Do you mind? The longer they're dislocated the more it'll hurt to put them back in."

He didn't answer me as his hands found their way to my shoulder and wrist. His entire body was shaking but I couldn't do this without him. I was sending waves of apologies at him when I felt my shoulders resetting themselves. _I can't believe it, what_ can't _my body do!_ I looked at them and could practically feel my muscles reaching out to my bones and pulling them back in. It would be an understatement to say that the feeling was absolutely disgusting. Felt like something was crawling around underneath my skin. Then I remembered Hank. _Shit._

"Actually, my shoulders are feeling much better! I don't think they need any relocation!" I tried to convince him with a shaky smile. Deep down inside I knew he wasn't going to take my word for it.

His eyes shot up to look into mine. "They are clearly dislocated, no need to suffer on my account." He said in that sweet tone he always used when he spoke to me. But I could definitely tell when he noticed that my shoulders were clearly not dislocated. Inwardly, I swore like a sailor, outwardly, I cringed as if his hands were suddenly white hot. He looked back up at me with worry in his eyes. "But... I... I could've sworn...?" He stuttered.

"I have this weird healing factor. Guess I forgot to mention it. Wounds heal in seconds, breaks heal in hours. I guess I'm your everyday Wonder Woman." I said with such a flippant attitude that I didn't even believe myself. Did I even dare to look into his eyes? Of course I did. Remember I didn't have the best track record for doing the smart or the right thing, and looking into Hank's eyes took the cake for the dumbest thing I'd ever done. I practically turned into a puddle. I opened my mouth to speak, ready to divulge and comfort him as best I could. "Hank, I-"

"YO, LOVE BIRDS, THE PRESIDENT'S GONNA TALK SOON!" Someone screamed, guessing since we could hear it from the house it was Sean. I turned to Hank who was ready standing and adjusting his blazer. At first I thought he was going to leave without me. That's when he reached down and pulled me up from the ground. He gave me a faint smile but I could still see the worry in his eyes. I tried to push that from my mind as we walked up to the house. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that keeping my secret from Hank was going to just keep getting harder and harder as my expiration date approached. I prayed that I was strong enough to keep it all tucked away.


	19. Chapter 19

**Perfect Synergy**

"_From a little spark may burst a flame._" - Dante Alighieri

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><p>Finally, the day had come. The day I had been waiting for for months. I'm not even going to try and drag out any suspense. You already know. It's been a long time coming.<p>

_It was my freaking birthday_.

A birthday celebration with a bunch of scatterbrained mutants was the best birthday I could have asked for. I mean, I could've asked for a meaningful somber birthday with my family but I've had 16 of those so why ask for another! And pretty sure my parents wouldn't let me leave if I actually came back. But having a guy light your birthday cake candles with his own awesome red energy? Talk about the coolest thing since portable radio! It was all so amazing, it felt like a dream. I actually couldn't resist and ended up shoving Charles face first into the chocolate on chocolate cake that Raven had so expertly made. On top of that I swung from the chandelier in the foyer, Alex had bought some great party favors the night he went into town so we covered the entire first floor in confetti, and I had the perfect idea for a birthday present. It wasn't anything much. Just wanted to run it by Charles before I committed to it.

"Charles!" I exclaimed when I saw him. "Charles Charles Charles Charles Charles Charles Charles!" I pestered even though he was giving me a very exasperated look since I was only a few feet away from him. He had been giving me that look for the past three hours, ever since I planted his face into my cake. Have I ever mentioned how much I love that I can block Charles out? So many surprises, so little time.

Charles arched an eyebrow at me. "Yes?"

I cleared my throat, Raven sure did know how to make a decadent cake. It was so rich I could still feel it covering the lining of my esophagus. "I want to get a tattoo."

_Wow, his eyes sure did get big_. Once he composed himself he asked. "Mind repeating that, Maxine?"

"Got frosting in your ears?" I joked, because he actually had. Charles didn't seem too entertained. "I want to get a tattoo on the inside of each of my wrists. Not an extravagant demand for a 17th birthday present, at least in my mind it isn't." I explained. "And if anyone asks any questions, I'm sure my telepathic mother sure can figure out some way to sweep any discrepancies under the rug!"

That got a slight chuckle out of Charles. "You've got it all figured out haven't you." Another chuckle. "I guess I can do this one thing for you, besides the whole shindig Raven and I threw for your special day." _Ouch, guess they _did_ do that for me. Now I feel like a real brat._

Putting on my most reassuring face, I fought to look him in the eye. "There's just this quote I've always liked and I kind of- I want it to be something everyone remembers me by. You know, when I'm gone..." I muttered, hoping that no one was listening in on our conversation.

At that, Charles sighed. "What's the quote." He asked.

"'From a little spark may burst a flame.' By Dante something or other. Saw that in something we read at Saffron. It stuck with me." I answered with my usual nonchalant attitude.

"Dante's Inferno. Great piece." Charles lamented, then sighed again. "I guess I can tag along to a more upstanding tattoo parlor, if it exists, long enough to convince the artist to ruin your skin with his work." He absentmindedly fixed the cuff of his sweater. "But do take someone else with you. I'm not a fan of-" He coughed. "Blood."

_Sweet! I'm getting a tattoo! _Two, actually.

Without really thinking I wrapped Charles in a hug. He let out a laugh and hugged me back. "Now now, go grab someone and get ready to leave." I unwrapped my arms from him and gave him a swift kiss to the cheek. Before I gave myself time to regret it I ran from the room in search of a friend to join me on my tattoo escapade. It was a tie between Raven and Alex, so whoever I found first was my choice. I checked the kitchen, just Sean passed out drunk in his underwear on the small breakfast table, I checked the den, just Erik smiling to himself while maneuvering three metal marbles in his hand. _Weirdo._ That's when I checked the gym.

_Jackpot!_ Alex was benching, like, 1,000 lbs., easily off in the the corner. I decided to do something daring, first I had to gauge my distance. _I can totally do it_. Exhaling, I did a cartwheel, three front walkovers, and a single flip to clasp onto the weight Alex was busy lifting. It took a little effort but there I was, in a perfect handstand, pushing a weight down into my friends surprised face.

"Hello." I said sheepishly, noticing my black hair tickling his nose. Before I knew it Alex was pushing the barbell back up, my weight combined and all. _Jesus Christ. This boy is too much for me. Why aren't I in love with him? Oh yeah. I love Hank. Guess I won the pick of the draw after all._

He grunted a bit when he let the weight back down and pushed me back up. "What's up?" He said through his teeth, giving the barbell and me another rep.

"I'm getting a tattoo in town, want to join?" I asked while silently admiring Alex's biceps and triceps flexing. If I wasn't careful I might just drool. Right onto him. _Ew._

Alex lifted the weight back to its holder and slithered out from underneath it. I decided to be even more daring, I did a push up, still in my handstand of course, pushed off, and performed a double back tuck. I landed perfectly, legs together, hands up, the whole shebang. _Thank you gymnastics_. Not-so-subtly I looked at Alex and he applauded me quietly. I bowed extravagantly, blowing air kisses to an imaginary crowd.

"Thank you, thank you, you're all too much." I cooed; Alex laughed.

"Guess I'll go into town with you. Does Charles know about this?" He asked, wiping his brow with his shirt as he did.

I nodded. "Yeah, he's going to be there in case anything goes wrong or any questions are asked."

That got a chuckle out of him. "Good ol' Charles, preaching one thing and doing another."

"He means well, I'm sure." I said rather sarcastically. We laughed for a little bit but it was time to head out. Not really aware of my own actions, I walked over to Alex, wrapped an arm around his neck, and gave that blonde head of his a noogie. It didn't take long for him to try to wriggle out of my grasp, still, I remained strong. "No way you're getting out of this!" I threatened.

Of course, as soon as I said that, he wrench my arms apart, clasped the back of my head, and shoved my face into his lovely dewy armpit. I was practically gagging from the smell. _Jesus shit, how long has he been pumping iron?_ Honestly I didn't know something could reek so much. This of course was all completely exaggerated because, well, let's face it. My face was smothered in nasty boy armpit hair and sweat at the time. My life seemed to flash before my eyes in that second. That's when something even more awful happened.

"I can _fucking taste it!_" I yelled and started punching Alex in the side until he let me go. And eventually he did. I hunched over as I hacked and wheezed. It was disgusting, I ran the back of my hand across my mouth and I saw a nice sheen layer of sweat. "_It was in my mouth?!_" I asked/yelled before jumping on Alex and beating him up for everything I was worth. It was a pretty fair wrestling match. It was like wrestling Collin, it really was. I think Alex sensed my distraction so he used that to gain the upper hand. Suddenly my face was in the carpet and I could feel Alex's hands between my shoulder blades and holding my wrist back causing my left shoulder relative pain.

"What is going on here?" Someone asked from the doorway. Alex let up on me a bit so I was able to look and see who was bothering us, it was Charles. I elbowed Alex with my free arm and shoved him off of me.

"He shoved his dirty pit in my face." I explained.

Charles arched an eyebrow at me. "Pit?" Seemingly confused by what I was saying. I reached over to Alex, who was now standing, grabbed his arm, and raised it up. With my other hand I pointed to the hairy jungle underneath Alex's arm. Charles made a noise of understanding. "Ah, his underarm..." He paused. "Why exactly did you put her face in there?" He asked with an evident shudder. _Yeah, how do you think I felt?_

Alex gave a snort. "Because I felt like it, and she deserved it." For that I punched him in the arm. He most certainly deserved _that._

In response to that Charles shook his head. "You two are impossible. Now, get your coats, it's a bit chilly out there. We're leaving in ten minutes, yes?" He gave us one last look before putting his hands in his pockets and leaving the same way he came.

The second he was gone I tackled Alex again. This match only lasted a minute or so, just long enough to one up him. Once we were done he left to change out of his sweaty and gross clothes so I decided to go and grab my jacket. My ratty old denim jacket that I've had for years. It was Devin's first so its got some real major damage. Devin was the rebel in the family. When he was 15 he got into a brawl with a motorcycle gang at a honkey tonk bar, now he shall forever have part of his ear sliced off and a knife wound to the cheek. Some fat ass stabbed his cheek right through. _And he's still the pretty one. Shocker._

I'm going to skip ahead to me actually getting the tattoos since nothing really substantial happened in the ten minutes it took to get into town. So, there I was, lying down with a tattoo needle going into my arm at a million needles per minute (I have absolutely no idea what the actual math is), admiring the quote across my wrists.

_Thank you Dante._

Next to me was Alex, shirtless, laying on his stomach, getting a tattoo on his shoulder. Yeah, I convinced him to get a tattoo where I was going to get one. Right shoulder blade. A nice simple X. Why the X? We were mutants, well, he was, and it was fitting seeing as he had a mutated X gene. I laughed every now and then when he yelped, then I would reach over and grab his hand, causing me to get a scolding from the artist working on me. Shove it, old fat dude. Of course the attractive artist that had done my wrists was now staining Alex's skin. Seemed to have a thing for my muscled friend. If he was gay I didn't know and I didn't care.

All I knew was that my shoulder was killing me. The X was only three by three inches in size but those three square inches hurt like a bitch. I'm glad I brought Alex along, if I had tried to convince Raven to get a tattoo she'd, more than likely, flat out refuse and if she didn't she would've been crying the entire time. I love her but she isn't quite the buck it up and shut up type. After 15 minutes of pure agony the two artists were done and Alex and I had matching tats. I quickly put my shirt back on, had to take it off to get the tattoo, and waited for Alex to put his back on. Once I saw his blonde head emerge from the collar of his shirt I hopped down from the table and gave him a hug.

He winced. "Ow ow ow! Watch where you're squeezing!" He complained with a bit of a laugh. His arms wrapped around my middle after I moved my arms from the spot that was causing him pain. Teasingly he drummed his fingers on my tat, too bad it didn't hurt anymore for me.

_Thank you healing factor._

"Why aren't you howling?" He asked, pulling away from me.

I gave him my most devious look. "Regenerative powers." I winked at his dumbfounded expression.

"So I'm going to be whining like a bitch for the next three weeks and you just get off scot-free?" He asked and I was terrified to answer because I was pretty sure that the truthful answer was going to cause me pain. I didn't think to mention my death in the next week, we were having too much fun. I didn't even answer Alex I just threw on my jacket and got the heck out of there. When I heard the rain coming down and Alex coming up behind me I did the only thing I could think of. I stop and faced the bull. Wasn't a very smart idea. Alex head butted my stomach and we both went down to the ground laughing like complete idiots getting rained on. That was one of the best nights of my life, including us trying to run back to the Palace when we were tackling each other and slipping all over the place. I didn't even care because for a second I felt like I was back home on a rainy day playing tackle football with the family. And the family included all of dad's war buddies, Monty, Gabe (when I was younger), Jim, Jacques. They were such a mashed up group, kind of like the wackos I live with now.

Speaking of which, my little group of wackos was going to get even wackier and I'd have to trade the best night of my life for the second worst. The night before we left for Cuba. The night I lost Hank.


	20. Chapter 20

**Perfect Synergy**

"_Pride, envy, avarice - these are the sparks have set on fire the hearts of all men_." - Dante Alighieri

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><p>Nothing substantial happened the day before Cuba. Just polishing up on our training was all. Alex had mastered his little- energy diaper thing, Sean could soar for miles, and Erik could probably summon the core of the planet into the palm of his hand, if he wished it. But something very terrible did happen the night before. At first, and long after, I thought it was a nightmare. I came to realize that it was nothing short of a delayed reality for a poor and tormented soul.<p>

I think it was around 11 o'clock when I sensed that something wasn't quite right. There was so much negative energy in the air that I couldn't bring myself to fall asleep. It made my skin crawl. Set me on edge. So what was a girl to do in her adoptive parents house in the middle of the night with no possibility of getting drunk or do anything moderately inappropriate? Absolutely nothing. Well, except for listening to the sounds of the night. Actually, twice in the night I heard Hank's door open, three times I heard Raven's door open, and twice I heard Erik's. I didn't get much time to deliberate who was visiting who when I heard something going amiss down the hall. Hank was the only one in the west wing, needed his space for experiments and tests and the like. Quickly I threw a blanket over my head and tried to go to sleep.

There was still more ruckus to be heard in the west wing though. Sounded like someone was knocking things over. _How is no one else hearing him?_ I was the closest to him, so that was part of it. But also my 400 times more efficient body actually increased my range of hearing. Unfortunate and I could possibly be kept up all night because of it. That's when I could hear a distinct sound of a wounded animal growling down in Hank's room. What a sigh of relief, it was some weird experiment and not him having sex with someone that wasn't me. Still, I couldn't shake that awful feeling in the air. It was the same feeling I felt when my little brother died. That alone was a more than ominous feeling.

It was two sleepless hours later and I could still hear it. The sound of some animal crying. _Was Hank torturing something down there? Come to think of it... I haven't heard anything of Hank. And that was really strange because he has a strange habit of talking to himself when he was working. I guess it would be alright to go down there to see if I can help that animal, or at least put it out of it's misery._

Clad in a tank top and underwear I peered out into the hall. The hallway lights were always on but no one seemed to be awake. I had only heard a peep come from Sean's room with his snoring. Carefully and quietly I headed down the hall to Hank's lab. As I got closer and closer the feeling in my stomach got worse and worse. _What exactly is going on in there?_ I don't want to admit this but I was extremely scared. It was a fear that was only able to rival the day Shaw blew me up and set my death clock in a fast forward motion.

Finally I made it to his door. I knocked quietly. "Hank? Everything okay in there?" I asked in a whisper, in case he was asleep.

"Go away..." Something snarled back. Either that tortured animal ate Hank or something terribly wrong was going on in there. Without thinking I grabbed the handle and tried it, locked.

"Hank, open the door." I pleaded, desperation fueling my voice and I didn't bother to mask it. If that feeling in my stomach didn't stop, I'd probably keel over in pain.

Another snarl resonated, it was absolutely terrifying. "_I said go away!_" It growled and something else was knocked over. My hand clutched my chest, my heart beating like- like a caged animal trying to escape. I didn't realize it but my face was streaked with tears. Somewhere deep inside me I think I knew what had happened on the other side of that door. Somewhere not so deep was telling me to ignore it, telling me to go back to my room and suffer in silence. But I couldn't do that. It wasn't in my nature. I placed my forehead on his door.

"Please, Hank... I know something's not right... please... let me in..." I continued to plead with a boy I sincerely loved.

Something slammed against the other side of the door and it caused me to jump back. When I calmed down some and returned to the door I could hear heavy breathing. "You don't want to see me right now, Max..."

Even when something terrible was happening he would insist on being the ever fine, a-okay dumbass. "You're wrong..." I assured him.

The sudden clunk of the dead bolt told me that I was being allowed entrance. I heard Hank scuffle away, knocking something else over. I turned the handle and slowly pushed the door open to see Hank's laboratory in shambles. Broken beakers, overturned tables and chairs, and bits of blood here and there. The fuck happened in there? I really didn't want to know the answer but by the clumps of blue fur everywhere, I sort of had a clue. Something shifted off in the corner and I walked towards it. It was a huge mass of blue fur, and by the looks of it there was more substance to that fur than just fluff.

"H-Hank?" I asked tentatively. A pair of yellow eyes looked up at me, a pair of yellow eyes on a face I knew very well. "Ohhh! Hank!" I cried as I dropped to my knees. My hands found the sides of his face and I pulled him towards me. "What happened to you...?" I whispered.

A clawed hand came up and caressed my head, I didn't shy away from the touch. I couldn't show him fear then, that wasn't something possible. No matter how scared I was _for _him, I'll never be scared _of _him.

"I... I tried to make a cure for my mutation... it didn't cure it... i-it enhanced it..." He muttered into my neck. I pulled him away to gauge his eyes.

"I think this was meant to happen." I said quietly without really thinking.

I don't know why but Hank grasped my hair and pulled. His animalistic side completely unhinged. Pain shot through my scalp. "You're saying that I was a monster from the very beginning, but now I finally look the part? _So everything you said to me before was a complete lie?_" He snarled and his fist tightened, causing even more pain. Tears of agony sprung from my eyes.

I made a sound of pain. "No...! That's not what I meant... at all...!" I was barely able to say past my clenched teeth.

Barely, just barely, his hand relaxed. "I'm sorry- but... please, explain yourself."

Unconsciously I let out a sigh of relief. "From when I first meant you I sensed you were always holding something back, like a caged animal waiting to break free-" Okay, wrong choice of words, his hand tightened again. "So I always sensed that there was more to you than you let everyone see, I sensed the anger, the passion, the sadness, all of it. It was painful to see you so confined. Now, you're free!" I got out in one great gust. I guess I said the right thing because Hank let go of my hair completely.

"I'm sorry, Max... I-I can't control myself..." He said softly as he raked his claws against my cheek, not to injure, but to soothe. Even if he thought he was an animal he was still the caring Hank that I loved. Suddenly, that feeling of unease left the air and I was suddenly exhausted. His nervousness, his anxiety, it gave off a pure carnal energy. That of cornered prey. I'm glad it finally got a chance to show itself. That Hank became who he always was on the inside. A man, as well as a beast.

I felt a smile cross my face as I pressed my lips against his.

"That's what I love about you Hank. Everything."


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: Here it is everyone. The End. I hope you enjoyed the ride.**

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><p><strong>Perfect Synergy<strong>

"_There are some things that will unintentionally take over everything about you. I'm very happy to admit that Max has taken over me body and soul. She was a simple idea I had in a time of my life where everything was going horribly wrong and she became something that got me through the worst of times. She's beautiful, she's haunted, she's eccentric, she's a part of myself that I put on paper, she kicks my butt night and day, and the fact that she's grown on more than just myself through these past 21 chapters makes me practically weep with joy. I thank you all for reading Max's story and I hope you have enjoyed it just as much as I did writing it. I'm sorry that she has to meet a terrible end but she had a real run and she doesn't blame me for the ending at all, it's how she wanted to go, fighting the way the daughter of an army Vet would._" - Me

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><p>Welcome to the last day of my life. I'm not going to try to mislead you or anything. You've stuck around this long I owe you this much. Besides, when you're a ticking time bomb you kind of know when you're set to blow. Even if I wasn't heading out with the flock to be slaughtered I was going to put my head on the chopping block regardless. It's how I was raised. So whatever happens today, I'm not going to spoil anything now, you can be sure a headstone will be made in my name. I won't have a body left behind but I'm pretty sure my parents are going to want to "bury" me. Closure and what not.<p>

Let's get off this topic shall we? I still have a few hours left, why not live them to the fullest? Fuller, fullest, get it?

When I woke up that morning I found myself lying against something soft. I looked around to see myself in Hank's lab once more, this time it wasn't quite so neat. Everything was broken or turned over. _Man, what was Hank doing in here last nime? Not dancing I hope, that boy could only do the twist. Otherwise he had two left hand-feet._

I yawned and scratched my head, why was I so comfy? I looked down and saw two bright eyes looking back at me hidden behind tufts of cerulean blue fur. Then the past six hours all came rushing back to me. Hank had grown blue fur. I let out a laugh and hugged him.

"Hey darlin'." I said playfully. The look on Hank's face told me he wasn't in a playing mood. "What's wrong?" I asked with just the slightest bit of pout.

For some reason he was staring at me like I had sprouted horns. "What's wrong? What's wrong! I'm a monster, that's what's wrong!" He snarled rather malevolently.

"Babe, you're aren't a monster. Don't even try to convince yourself of that." I said matter of factly, sitting up as I did.

"Look at me!" He yelled with tears of anger coming to his eyes.

I don't think before I act much, because I slapped him. "I _am_ looking at you Hank! And do you know what I see? A boy that I fell in love with! I don't care what you look like, you're still Hank to me!" I yelled back.

"Yeah, because you're thinking of me how I was." He returned in a huff. "There's no way someone could love someone who looked like this..."

At that I rolled my eyes. "If you think your appearance was all that I liked about you, then you haven't been paying attention at all! I'm thinking about every nice thing you said to me, every bandaged wound, every sweet caress, every gentle kiss, and of every feeling you brought to my heart." My hand rose to my chest of its own accord. "That's what I think of when I think of you, not a face. And of course that insane brilliance in everything that you do. There isn't anything that I don't love about you. There really isn't." I finished my words with a caress to his new rough skin. He gave into the touch and kissed my palm. I had to admit, this new Hank was more affectionate. Perhaps that was his inhibitions going to the wind. Animalistic desire is very sexy.

He wrapped a hand around my neck and pulled my lips to his. "Do you mean that?" He asked when we were just a breath away from a kiss.

I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Of course I do, you dummy." I closed the distance between us and revelled in the moment. Well, I tried to. Hank shot up like a rocket before I could even savor it all properly.

"Crap! I've got to get to the air base!" He swore as he scrambled out of bed. That was the first time I noticed that the clothes he was wearing were hanging on by threads. His body was really filled out now, and it was hard to look away. _If you told me a year ago that I would be attracted to a guy with blue skin, covered in blue fur, and yellow eyes, I would've punched you in the face and called the cops. But, here I am. What can you do? Lightning is like love, you never know where it'll strike until it has fallen- __Actually, wait a minute._

Something Hank said threw me for a loop. "You're not going to go with the rest of us?" I asked, crawling to the edge of the bed as he was zipping himself up into some sort of suit. He actually had to cut off the sleeves up to the elbow and the legs off above the knees.

He looked at me and shook his head. "I know you're completely accepting of how I am now, but I don't want to face the others just yet. I'm going to head out to the air base to get the jet ready. I'll tell them everything when you all get down there." He explained just as he finished gathering up all his things. "You've made me feel better about my whole situation, you really have. I'm still not ready to explain this," He said with a grand gesture to his torso and face, "to everyone else."

_That was more than understandable_. I nodded briskly. "I'll give you that. But what am I going to say about this mess?" I said, meaning the room.

"Let them wonder, they'll connect the dots when they see me." _True._ "But you have to let them know that they have to bring that container over there." He pointed to a large silver container with something black on the lid. It was a tad too far away for me to see what exactly was on it. Nor did I really care.

I nodded again. "Can do. You leaving now?" I asked just as he grabbed a pair of keys and was heading towards the door.

"Yeah, I don't want to take the chance that anyone's awake yet." He admitted. I crawled over to the end of the bed right before he opened the door and pressed my lips against his. I broke away and gave him the best girl pout I could manage. Hank chuckled slightly. "Yes, I love you too." That brought a smile to my face. I kissed him again and let him on his way. The door opened and shut behind him.

Once I was sure he was gone, I cried. _God, he had to say that. He just had to say that he loves me._ Completely torn, I held my hand to my chest has I choked out sobs. If only I had the courage to tell him. But I couldn't do that. I couldn't shake up his life more than it already was. I don't care what was happening to me, I had no right to put that on him. Even now, I don't regret not telling him. I'm a coward. I couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle taking anything more away from him that hadn't been taken already. His whole identity had been ripped from him. I was going to go no matter what. I wasn't anything important. I laid back down and I tried to calm myself down.

Suddenly, someone opened the door. I blinked open my tired eyes to realize that I'd actually been sleeping. I thanked God silently for giving me that moment. I heard the crunch of glass underneath someone's shoe and I rubbed my eyes with a yawn. Regaining focus I saw Charles walking around the discarded tables, probably looking for someone who wasn't even there. Unless he was looking for me, in which case he was looking in all the wrong spots. I was ten feet behind him on a makeshift bed.

"It's impolite not to knock." I muttered, scratching my head and sitting up as I did. Charles turned immediately and blushed something fierce.

"If you could please right your clothing." He said, barely understandable in his nervousness. I looked down and sure enough my shirt was perfectly askew to expose my nipples. _Fancy that._ I glanced up and saw Raven, currently blue and absolutely sexy, Sean, and Alex poking their heads past the double doors.

I gave them a tired wink. "Enjoy the show?" I asked, causing Raven to giggle and the boys to pretend that they were doing no such thing.

_Oh well, can't save the world practically nude._ I thought. _Well, I can__ try. Don't think Shaw will fall for my womanly wiles, though. And by the looks of him when I last saw him he was, like, 60. Um, no thank you. Even I have my standards._

Quickly I fixed my shirt. "I'm decent. Well, at least my clothes are." I informed Charles, and everyone else. Charles returned his gaze to me and let out a sigh of relief.

Being a little more at ease, Charles continued to look around the room. "Where's Hank?" He asked me innocently enough.

To that, I scratched my head and yawned. "Air base." I pointed to the crate on the other side of the room. "He said to bring that." I yawned again and wagged my finger a bit at it before lying back down.

"What the hell happened here?" Someone cursed. I recognized it to be our metal kinetic German. And the fact that he was looking at me told me that he expected an answer. Not that I cared to give one that he'd accept.

I shrugged. "You'll find out soon enough."

With that the rest of the group filed into the room, completely surprised by the sight in front of them. Just as Charles and Erik had been before them. Quickly I got up and bounded over to the crew, more specifically, Raven.

I grasped her delicate and intricate hands and placed a small kiss to her lips. "Honey, don't you know that you can't _possibly_ keep me at bay when you're so blatantly and undeniably stunning? How am I going to be able to focus with you flaunting your beauty everywhere?" Raven looked down at the floor in embarrassment but I could feel Erik looking at us with a smirk. I tilted her chin back up. "I mean it. You're gorgeous." She smiled at me and gave me a kiss back. We touched foreheads for a moment. I twined my fingers with hers and pulled her towards the crate where everyone else was gathered.

With our arrival, Charles opened the crate and we all peered inside. The container was full of nearly identical blue and yellow suits. "Hank _has_ been busy." Erik commented.

"Do we really have to wear these?" Alex asked.

I arched an eyebrow at him and lifted his suit out of the crate. "Unless you want to wear your energy diaper. You won't be scaring anyone in that." Behind me, Charles chuckled.

"And seeing as none of us are mutated to endure extreme g-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up." Charles said, motioning for me to drop the suit. I did so and he shut the crate. Without waiting for anyone to tell us, I grabbed one end of the container and Alex grabbed the other. Before we could get going Charles stopped me with a hand on my arm.

"What is that on your shoulder?" He asked, sternly.

_Oop. Busted. Caught redhanded by the poh-lice._

"Tattoo." Was my frank reply as Alex and I carried the container out the door and down the stairs, leaving Charles and his contempt in the dust. Of course, I got the bottom of this situation. Heading down the stairs with most of the weight on me. "Oi! Are you even holding on? Feels like I'm carrying this bloody thing all by me lonesome!" I said rather loudly in a fake British accent, for whatever the reason. Alex laughed at that.

Suddenly, the load seemed heavier. I didn't even need to look to know what was going on.

"HEY! PICK UP YOUR END RIGHT NOW!" I commanded. And I was right! Alex and dropped his end and I was now lugging the whole thing down the stairs myself. "You know what, fine!" I exclaimed before I got out of the way and let go of the crate entirely. Without anyone to hold onto it, the crate clanged and banged down the last flight of stairs. Alex went to grab ahold of it but made it as far to where I was before he gave up on that. Lost cause. He dropped an outstretched hand and gave me a look of entertained disbelief.

A laugh escaped him. "You would, wouldn't you?"

I crossed my arms and nodded with a smug smirk. "One thing a little sister learns to do is how to out stubborn her giant older brothers. Even if she doesn't have the size or the power, she mostly certainly would have the last word." I gave him a little "hmph" and continued down the stairs. Alex laughed and came down beside me.

"You're a great sister, even if we're not related by blood." He said quietly, giving my hand a gentle squeeze before rushing down the rest of the steps. _Wow. I didn't expect that_. I felt my cheeks going a bit pink. I brought my hand up to feel the warmth. _Jesus shit, it's not like he grabbed my butt or anything._

From up above I could hear the others heading down the stairs so I decided to not stand there like an idiot and move forward. I continued down the steps to help Alex with the crate I'd so gloriously dropped when I heard, "Max, wait!" I looked up and saw Raven hurrying down the stairs with a bag in her hand.

"What's up?" I asked, standing up straight.

"You can't think I'm going to let you go out in public in nothing more than your underwear." She said in a cross tone. That's when she shoved the bag in my face. Inside was a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a jacket. _Oh Raven._ I gave her the most exasperated look I could muster. "Don't look at me like that. Saving the world can wait for you to put some clothes on."

I shrugged. "If you say so. But if Shaw and his minions strike within the next minute, we know who we're going to blame." Raven chuckled. So, in the middle of all of my friends, I ripped off the shirt I was wearing and began pulling on the clothes provided. I figured the others had just grown used to my nakedness. Once I was done Raven gave me a shove.

"Can you at least pretend to be a care about privacy?" She laughed.

"I could, I just choose not to." I winked at her and went back over to the crate where Alex was shaking his head. He was used to it. We lifted the crate and continued out to the garage. Charles had two cars set up for us. _We can all fit into one, I'm sure. There's only six of us_.

Why did I say anything?

"Sorry I'm late!" I turned to see Moira rushing up to Charles. I couldn't help the quiet groan I let out.

Charles smiled at her,. "It's alright, we just got down here." I made several quiet gagging noises which seemed to entertain Raven and Alex, but not so much Charles. There was this sharp pain in the back of my head. _Honestly, is Charles asking me to encompass my noggin? Well, can't really do it now. We need Charles's head to be intact for what's to come_.

I groaned. "Can we get going? Got a war to prevent, y'know. Psycho mutant to put down." I said rather crudely. With the keys in the ignition of one of the cars I popped the trunk and Alex helped me lift the crate inside. "Alex, Raven, Sean, and I will take this one. When the rest of you are ready to cease this gab fest, you can join us!" I said with a flip of my hair. And like trained hounds my fellow mutants joined me. Alex took the drivers seat, Sean took the passengers, leaving the back to Raven and myself.

"Way to bitch out the parents." Alex grinned from the front seat as we headed towards the air base.

"It's really just Moira, she pisses me off." I explained in a bit of a huff.

"Really? I think she's kind of hot." Sean drawled.

I guffawed. "She's like, 80! Or at least she acts like it!"

At that we all laughed. The rest of the car ride was spent in moderate silence. Every now and then an observation would be made and a brief conversation would bloom but they never lasted more than a minute. Good thing the CIA air base was only thirty miles away so we made it there in 40 minutes, give or take. The first thing we did when we parked was figuring out which uniform when to each mutant. Sean's had wings and Alex's had the disk, so those were evident, but Raven and I couldn't tell which belonged to us.

"Did Hank think to put our names on a tag or something?" I asked no one in particular as I looked all over the uniform I had in my hands. Just as I said it though I found quite a feminine uniform with extra room in the chest region. I picked it up and handed it to Raven. "To the only mutant with boobs."

She smiled with a light laugh. "You have them." That nearly forced me to roll my eyes.

I grabbed my boobs. "These are buds. Barely buds. Nothing in comparison to yours."

"They're perfect. Now stop insulting them or they'll get smaller." She chastised as she picked up a uniform with no sleeves. "For some reason I think this belongs to you." I observed the uniform, there was no metal on any part of it. _Yup, this is mine._

I kissed Raven on the cheek. "Thank you, darling." And then not a second later I started stripping again.

"Most people would take the time to go elsewhere to change." Alex commented dryly, having come back from changing. He only had his suit zipped up to his hips, leaving his perfectly chiseled body open for staring. _Oh thank you Lord for gorgeous men with gorgeous abs._

"When did you get that?" Sean asked, pointing a gloved hand at Alex's back. And either Alex had some scar or wound or mole or alien on his back, or he was talking about the fresh tattoo on his shoulder.

Alex looked back at him with a bit of a smile. "Got it the same day Max got hers."

The red head looked up at my bare back as I started to pull on my suit. "They're matching tats!" He exclaimed, in an almost idiotic tone.

"Wait, what?" Raven asked, clearly confused. I realized she was completely naked as she came back into view, not that we could see anything (dammit), and rushed forward to turn Alex around and compare the tattoos. "They're exactly the same!" She exclaimed as well, practically dumbfounded.

I sighed. _It's almost like we planned it._ "Yeah, we got matching tats." Repeating what the others had said for the third time, hoping they'd drop it. I was about to walk out when I saw a camera sitting on a table.

"Hey! You guys should take a picture of us!" I said before throwing the camera to Sean and grabbed Alex without so much of an explanation. But, honestly, wasn't what I said explanation enough? I don't know why I had the sudden need to have my picture taken... Okay, I did. I wanted some memorabilia of me when I was gone for the people I cared about most. So they knew I was happy, that I made the right choice. That they wouldn't feel quite so bad knowing the truth. That I had died doing what I loved. That even though I wouldn't reach adulthood, that even though they'd never know how much I matured they could still know that I was still the girl that was raised by Dum Dum Dugen. That no matter the danger, I would do whatever it takes and I could smile doing it. Smiling fondly I turned Alex briskly so our backs were the point of focus and I brought my arms up to flex all manly like. Alex shook his head but did the same.

"Max, get your hair out of the way!" Sean commanded. I huffed but I listened. I pulled my hair over my left shoulder and went back to posing. "Now, say mutant!"

"Mutant!" Alex and I both said in unison, granted my tone was a bit more excited than his.

There were a couple of flashes, the sound of film processing, and then silence. "All done! Now cover up will ya?"

I stuck my tongue out at Sean but did as he asked. I put my arms through the non-existent sleeves and Raven zipped me up. Then she quickly put on her suit. When she zipped herself up, something didn't look quite right. I came in front of her and held my chin in my hand, wondering what was wrong with the whole deal. With a snap of my finger I reached forward and unzipped it until her cleavage was exposed.

I gave her boobs a good pat. "That's better. Can't have you overheating on us now can we?" I said with a mischievous smile.

"You two are ridiculous." Alex said behind us as he tried to zip himself up. But for some reason I think he had some trouble finding the zipper. I walked over to him and used my electrical field to find the metal. It was on his right hip. The zipper was off center to accommodate Alex's disk. _Good thinking there Hank. _I reached for the zipper and Alex held his disk up against his chest to get it out of my way. With one quick motion he was all zipped up.

"Thanks." He muttered.

"Not a problem."

Charles, Erik, and Moira arrived shortly after and it took them another ten minutes to get ready so we waited patiently while mom and dad got dressed up for work. After we had, finally, all suited up we entered the hanger that Hank had reserved. The jet that was waiting for us was like none I had ever seen, and, being and army brat during the Cold War, I had seen quite a few. More than a few. Just a bit. I couldn't even explain it, it was like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. Something completely unheard of but yet, there it was. In all of it's glory. When I got done oogling the plane I joined the others. We all got into a straight line, minus Moira who was talking to the CIA, and waited for Hank to emerge. The suspense must've been killing everyone else, since I knew the truth I felt no such thing. I'm sure I'd be feeling something soon though after the numbness of me dying before sunset finally seeped into my bones. But that wasn't happening quite yet.

"Where's Hank?" Raven asked, finally pointing out the gargantuan elephant in the room.

I was about to answer her when a deep "I'm here." resonated through the hanger. All of our heads snapped up to look at the owner of the voice. I'm sure everyone was confused by the large behemoth (sorry Hank) coming our way. Tall, blue, and covered in fur. The group was safe to assume that it _wasn't _Hank from what they knew. But, this is who Hank is now. Might take them a moment to wrap their head around it. While the rest of us watched him approach, someone spoke.

Of course it was Charles. "Hank?" He asked tentatively.

It took a little while but finally Hank was in front of us. He was nothing like the scrawny chestnut haired awkward scientist that they knew. He was ferocious, fierce and still the man I loved.

Quietly, Hank spoke. "It didn't attack the cells, it enhanced them." He looked down at his feet. "It didn't work."

I was about to reach forward and comfort him when Raven beat me to it.

"Yes it did, Hank." She said so sincerely it twanged at my heart. "Don't you see? This is who you were meant to be." She cupped her hand against his face. "This is you. No more hiding." Raven's hand dropped as she finished consoling him.

'Thank you.' I mouthed at her, having the same sort of understanding I did when it came to Hank's new form.

Erik reached up and clapped him on the shoulder amicably. "Never looked better, man."

Then, faster than humanly possibly, and more accurately, Hank started to strangle Erik.

"Hank?" Charles asked from the other end of the line.

_Charles, he's trying to murder Erik, can you act a bit more rash than just asking a question?_

Slowly, but surely, Erik was turning purple and shaking profusely. "Don't," Hank snarled, "mock me." I stepped out and began rubbing Hank's free arm, trying to soothe him, calm him down. He was volatile and feral in it's purest form. At first he started to turned as if to strangle me as well but his eyes softened upon connecting with mine.

'Calm.' I mouthed at him, trying to ease him to a degree.

"Hank, put him down immediately, please. Hank, Hank!" Charles demanded harshly. Hank looked at me out of the corner of his eye and dropped Erik straight to the floor.

Gasping for air, Erik looked up at the man who almost killed him. "I wasn't." He assured that same man.

"Even I have to admit that you look pretty bad ass." Alex started, causing me to smile. "I think I have a new name for you." He paused. "Beast." Hank let out a low growl in approval of his new name. His chest puffed out in pride. Anything had to be better than 'Bozo'. I smiled at my beautiful man, got up on my tiptoes, and kissed his cheek.

"You sure you can fly this thing?" Sean asked, getting us back on track with the whole world saving thing. Kind of important if you asked me.

Hank brought his attention back to the task at hand as well. "Of course I can, I designed it."

"Uh, excuse me?" I laughed easily. "I knew you were a genius but now you design planes in your spare time? Honey, you're makin' momma over here look like a slacker." I whined with a slap to his arm. He just smiled at me fondly and kissed the top of my head. "Overachiever." I grumbled not quite backing down, getting a low chuckle from him.

"Come on, let's get strapped in." He said and beckoned all of us to get in the jet. Just then Moira came running out from wherever she was.

"Estimated arrival of Russia's fleet at the line is 10:30. If we leave now we should be there a few minutes beforehand." She informed us. For some reason she was wearing a grey jumpsuit. Well, for some reason the rest of us were wearing blue and yellow skin tight suits. Aside from G-Force and bullets. Well, we looked hot. She looked frumpy. Let the blue and yellow suits live long and prosper.

Beside me, Hank nodded. "Sounds about right. Everyone in the jet!" He called as he ran to the door of the plane. Seconds before he did that he had wrapped his hand around mine so I was forcefully dragged along with him.

"Slow down!" I laughed when we took off. He looked back and just smiled. _Wow, I kind of like this new Hank. He lacks all inhibitions, it's absolutely riveting, and he acted as though he was free as a bird_. Behind us I could feel everyone staring. As a way to say 'screw you' we stopped and I kissed Hank for everything he, as well as I, was worth. The teeth were a bit of an obstacle, but a girl could learn to work around those.

Someone smacked the back of my head. "You two need to get a room." I turned and it was none other than the infamous Alex so when he passed me I planted my foot on his ass and gave it a mighty shove. He turned abruptly and reached out to put me in a headlock. "Do you want to smell my armpit again?"

_What kind of question is that?_ "Um, no?" I sort of asked/said. But I don't think he was giving me an option since I had barely closed my mouth when he shoved my head in his pit and wouldn't let go.

"You two, on the jet!" Someone yelled from behind us. More likely than not, it was Charles.

Alex let me go (air is nice thank you) and gave me a hand up onto the plane. Hank was already aboard, probably got on while Alex was being a prick, perfect opportunity too. He waved at me as I passed. _See? He's not different at all. He still has those cute little things that he does_. Actually, he wasn't waving, he was handing me a headset. _Oh. My bad_. I put the headset on and took the farthest seat on the right side of the plane, across from Raven and next to Alex. Of course I'd get the seat next to that dunderhead. Right as I sat down I started punching him as hard as I could.

"You're an ass!" I yelled quietly. He just put me into another head lock and gave me a wild noogie. _Ow, oW. _Honestly, my scalp was burning. Frantically I shoved his hands away. "Get out of here, I want to take a nap." I protested. Alex shrugged, stopped noogieing me, and offered his shoulder for a pillow. That was kind of him. I happily accepted it and quickly drifted off.

Those few seconds before I conked out, I was fighting off my own imagination. All of the things that could go wrong. The fact that I was _dying_. I was already starting to feel it. Well, I had been for weeks. There was a distinct tingly sensation coursing through my body non-stop for the last month or so. I knew I didn't have long. I barely had any time left. Before I knew it I would be gone. I'd be gone and I prayed to God that I wouldn't have to tell anyone else. That I wouldn't have to see their crying faces when the time came. God knows that would just destroy me.

"We're going to reach the embargo line in t-minus five minutes."

Having dozed off rather royally, I shot up from Alex's shoulder fast enough to snap my neck. I might have, actually. I felt a bit of ricochet on that. And not to mention it was really sore. My eyes took a second to get adjusted to the light. God how I hated those first few seconds after you wake up, blinding light that just makes you want to close your eyes and conk out again. But I couldn't, world to save, war to prevent, a psychopath to stop, my own death to experience. Overall, a very packed day. That's why I needed my rest! Maybe just... a few... more... min...

"Hey, no more sleeping." Someone said beside me.

I grumbled some sort of response, must have been slightly comprehensible because they laughed.

"I know, I know. Not enough hours in the day."

At that, I groaned. Why did this ass have to remind me? I was feeling enough pressure as it was. Try to save the world without combusting? Yeah, you do that successfully and get back to me. Kay?

For some reason, I was shoved. "_Get up_."

Okay. That got my attention. I became more alert and blinked several times to get all of the sleep out of me. Stretching to the best of my ability strapped into my seat, I snorted and spat into a nearby waste basket. "How close are we?" I asked whoever was around me.

"Nearly there. Four minutes, tops." I turned to see that it was Alex. _Of course it is, he was sitting next to me when I dozed off_. I wiped the drool off my face and onto him. He just looked at me with a sad face, not saying anything.

"What?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "It's nothing."

The next minute or so passed in a completely awkward stone cold silence. Everyone was so wound up in their nerves I don't think they could even breathe easily, I knew I couldn't. Honestly? My heart rate was getting up into the not-human levels. Never had I ever felt so nervous. With good reason. The tingling sensation was getting worse, my skin was practically crawling. I didn't dare look at it. Lest I make it all worse for me than it already was. I was never going to see these people ever again and I knew that I was kicking the can pretty hard... I just didn't know when! It was absolutely maddening! I felt my entire body trying to come alive and electrocute everyone around me. It took everything I had to keep it all inside. Tingling sensation aside, I could barely control my powers anymore. _Am I even going to make it there?_ I thought. _Oh my God, will I have to see Hank's face when it happens? Raven's? Should I just jump from the plane and end it? Maybe I should..._

'_Breathe Maxine. Calm your mind. You're going to drive yourself mad with those sorts of thoughts._' I heard in the corner of my mind. '_We did some tests yesterday, remember? You'll be fine. You _are_ fine._'

I looked across the aisle to see Charles with his fingers in their usual telepath spot.

I smiled softly. '_Thanks_.' I projected back. For some reason I felt a hundred times better and everyone looked as if they did as well. Was that Charles's doing? Probably. But I was thankful anyway. I felt my nerves untangle and ease up gradually. Good thing too, combine a live-wire with anxiety and the outcome isn't pretty.

"We're here." Hank's voice rang out from my headset. We all sat up and looked out the window at the armada of American and Russian ships. I reached into the belt of my suit and pulled out a pair of gloves Hank had given me. There were conductors on the inside and insulators on the outside to enhance the bursts from my skin but I was still able to touch the people around me. "It looks pretty messy out there." Hank informed us from the cockpit. And he was right, it was a mess. This whole deal was just one big catastrophe after another.

Back across the aisle Charles had put his fingers back on his temple for whatever reason. My assumption? Probably to gauge the situation on the water. He closed his eyes and waited for a second only to open them a moment later. "The crew of the Aral Sea are all dead. Shaw's been there." He explained to us, mostly to our resident German.

_God, he doesn't care who he kills does he?_

"He's still here, somewhere." Erik replied to his friend, sure that Shaw wouldn't leave this battle until he'd shed the maximum amount of blood.

"He set the ship on course for the embargo line." Charles continued to inform.

Next to speak was Moira. "If that ship crosses the line our boys are going to blow it up... and the war begins."

"Unless they're not our boys." The telepath cryptically answered.

_Who else will blow up the ship? Us? We're still American, most of us are, anyway, so that would still have the same result!_

Charles squeezed his eyes shut and went back to using his telepathic methods. In a matter of seconds a missile was shot out of one of the Russian's ships and was headed right for us. _Guess that's what he meant, hope he doesn't kill us in the process!_ Hank expertly jerked us out of the way, causing Raven to scream and the rest of us to thrash about. She really didn't do well in these situations. But I started letting out some pretty loud shrieks when suddenly gravity was pulling me towards the ocean.

"Hold on!" Charles screamed as he held down his sister. In my headset I could hear Hank snarl as he tried to steady the plane. Before he could the ship approaching the embargo line was impacted by the missile and there was a massive explosion.

Now, with a steady ship, Hank said, albeit a bit breathless, "A little warning next time, Professor."

_Yeah, Charles, little warning before you try to_ _kill us!_

"Sorry about that." He responded. And to Sean he asked, "You alright?"

"Yeah." The redhead said in the most exhausted/exasperated tone I had heard all day.

"Just your every day tumble to avoid a missile." I said with a forced flippancy. I was secretly freaking out on the inside. Don't mind heights, don't mind tumbling, but tumbling in the air if a steel death trap? Yeah. Not my cup of tea. Probably sensing my nervousness Alex gave my hand a squeeze.

As she was clicking away at some switches, Moira said, "That was inspired, Charles."

_And dangerous, but who wants to admit that?_

"Thank you very much but I still can't locate Shaw." Charles admitted, his fingers still in place.

Across from Charles, Erik yelled, "He's down there, we need to find him now!" I never did get to learn the beef Erik had with Shaw but by the psychopaths endearing personality I'm sure there was a more than reasonable cause.

Charles turned to the cockpit. "Hank?"

"Is there anything unusual on the radar or scanners?" Our pilot asked Moira.

She took a second to examine each screen in front of her. "No, nothing."

"Then he must be underwater," Hank started, "and obviously we don't have sonar." He finished and I thought I heard Erik sigh.

"Yes we do." Sean said across the way. _We have sonar? Where- oh. Yeah. Forgot, Sean's our resident bat._

"Yes we do." Charles agreed as Erik, Sean, and himself undid their seatbelt. Charles and Sean started using some of those things you see people holding onto on subways to approach the middle of the plane. "Hank! Level the bloody plane!" He yelled and Hank did his best to follow through with his instruction.

Once Erik joined them on the other side of the opening doors Sean exclaimed, "Whoa! You back right off!" I assumed he was remembering the time Erik pushed him off the satellite. Hard to forget something like that, even with Sean's spotty memory. Erik held up his hands in a mock surrender.

"Beast, open the bomb bay doors!" Sean yelled up to the cockpit since the three of them took off their headsets. As the bomb bay doors opened it got particularly difficult to hear, but lucky for me I still could make a word or two (or all of them) out.

"Remember! This is a muscle," Charles yelled over the sound of whipping air as he wrapped his hand around Sean's throat, "you control it!" He lifted his fingers to his temple. "You'll be in here the entire time! We'll see you soon!" He removed himself from Sean and took a precautionary step back. "On my mark! Three! Two! One!"

"_Woooooooooo!_" Sean yelled as he dropped from the plane in a pencil dive. Other than that I really had no idea what was happening. I assumed Sean was flying and, eventually, diving. I had super senses but I wasn't quite to the point of x-ray vision... yet.

A few seconds later Moira was talking into her headset. "Alert the fleet, they may want to take their cans off." I assumed she was talking to some CIA official. Didn't want our boys going deaf, I assume. About a minute later Charles had a look on his face.

"Banshee has got a location on Shaw." He said to us before looking directly at Erik. "Are you ready for this?"

Erik tugged at his gloves. "Let's find out."

Hank probably hit some button because the door that led to the front wheel opened and Erik clung to it as it swing down. I couldn't hear anything after that due to the wind and the fact that Charles didn't say anything. No one on board said anything either, we were too busy waiting for something to happen. God we'd all go nuts if we just sat around waiting. About half a minute later you could see a submarine being lifted out of the water, slow, but steady. _Wow. If Erik can do that- again, core of the Earth. He is one powerful dude._

Upon realizing that they were no longer underwater, and not by their own accord, the mutant that could whip up whirlwinds decided to deal with us. He climbed out of the submarine hatch and started spinning around to turn himself into the gusts of wind he kicked up so easily.

That's when Charles screamed, "Erik, take my hand!"

"Hold on guys, it's going to get bumpy." Hank informed us just as we were hit.

Without bothering to think, I jumped into action. Immediately I unclasped my belt and headed over to where Charles was. What was I doing exactly? I stopped asking myself that a long time ago. Even though the submarine was approaching shore the whirlwind was still threatening the safety of everyone on board the jet. I didn't wait any longer. I used my electrical field to secure myself to the top of the inside of the craft and I felt my entire body turn to electricity. This isn't where I die, I assure you. But I manually turned into electricity and used all of my concentration, power, and experience to turn myself into a lightning bolt.

Planting my feet and crouching I shot out of the opening, just a fragment of light, straight into the whirlwind. There was no physical form there for me to fight so I just kept sending off electrical pulses. Waves upon waves of electrical field shaking and disrupting the mutants abilities. And, eventually, my plan worked. The whirlwind disipated and I didn't have anything keeping me up anymore. So, naturally, I found myself falling towards the beach. _What a lame way to die._

_Wait, if I can turn into lightning- _Ceasing brain activity and just relying on impulse I concentrated on one point on the ground and surged. Suddenly, I was there. Safe and sound. I was a little unsteady on my feet but I managed to right myself. I looked down as I slowly began to retain my physical form. The electricity absorbed back into my system and I was Max again. All of that, just in time for the big battle! To my left, Azazel, Angel, and the wind guy were all lined up. To my right, Erik, Hank, and Alex were all emerging from the destroyed jet.

_I wonder if it's intact enough to bring us home. _I contemplated. _Well, bring _them_ home anyway._

I ran over to my teammates and Alex clapped me on the back. Admittedly, turning into lightning was absolutely exhausting. I charged a bit of energy to keep my reflexes alert for what was to come. Angel made the first move by flying up into their air while wind guy went next by whipping up two whirlwinds in his hands. Alex shot out some energy at them causing Azazel to teleport and silent guy to fall on his face. I took advantage of his situation and charged. I summoned all that I could to my arms as I ran. It was rather hard to run on dry sand. Just as I crossed the halfway point, purple suit got back up. I used some energy to propel me forward to increase my speed and strength as I punched him square in the jaw. My theory was, keep it at close combat. He seemed to excel in ranged. As did I, but I also excelled in close quarters.

_Thank you Dugen boys for teaching me how to box! _

Purple guy got up right as he right the ground and started punching back. He gave a quick left jab, I blocked it easily, he hooked right, I just managed to dodge that one, a well powered uppercut and I had to do a back walkover to get out of the way and simultaneously kick him in the jaw.

_Fuck, that's too much distance_.

He whipped up a tornado that threw me back twenty feet. I looked up, ready to keep going, except Erik had crushed him underneath a part of the submarine. Guess he was out for the count. Not even dwelling on it I tried to see where Alex and Hank had gone. I whipped my head around, tried to sense them, but they were no where to be found. I guessed that Azazel had taken the fight elsewhere. To where? I had no clue.

Out in the middle of the ocean I could see Sean had emerged and Angel was giving him a run for his money. I watched them, wondering if it was worth the effort to try and help him. But, eventually, Angel fell and Sean seemed to be victorious. _Yes! _I cheered internally.

The more I looked the more I came to realize that Sean was carrying somebody across the water. It looked too thin to be Hank so I guessed Alex. Leaving Hank to fight Azazel all on his own. As Sean came closer to shore I saw that he was struggling severely to keep them both up in the air which meant that Angel wouldn't be far behind them. Once they were over land, Sean dropped Alex all of five feet and dove into the sand. I ran over to them and I dropped next to Sean in time to notice that one of his wings was on fire. I threw some sand on it as Alex scrambled over to us as well.

"Your lip is bleeding." He informed me, a bit breathless.

I looked at him sarcastically. "Really? Sean's more injured than me why can't you-"

"Look out!" Sean yelled and pointed to Angel. Alex turned around and used his powers to knock her down. Sean laughed in relief, so did I. That's when my face started to burn. I brought my hand up to feel a cauterized wound there on my left cheek. Looks like Alex nicked me. But how? When he turned back around I saw that his disk was no longer in place. Must've come off in battle, at least that was my assumption.

Alex looked up at me. "Fuck. I got you, didn't I?"

I shoved him. "It's just a scratch. Don't worry about it we have more pressing matters to attend to!"

We were momentarily distracted by the clanging going on in the submarine. _Guess Erik found Shaw!_ Hope he kicked some major ass in there. Old creep deserved whatever he got. Almost too caught up in wishing Shaw's death I almost didn't notice that behind me, Azazel had materialized. It took me a second to recognize the familiar sound meaning he'd joined the party so I turned to see him pinning Hank down with his tail getting dangerously close to his eye. Hank let out a snarl and I scrambled to my feet, ready to drop kick that son of a bitch.

"Stop, Azazel." I heard someone say. I looked up to the wreckage of the jet to see none other than Shaw in his odd helmet.

_What's Erik doing in the sub then?_

Shaking my head I took advantage of Azazel's distraction to charge and kick him in the face. He fell and I helped Hank to his feet. As soon as he was standing I heard Azazel disappear again. Apparently he materialized behind me because Hank pushed me aside and walloped him right in the gut. He didn't get up this time. I looked back to Shaw, ready to pummel him until he bled black and blue to see that 'Shaw' was now Raven.

_The world makes sense again_. Where have I heard that one before? I ran over to my friend, hugged her, and planted kisses all over her face. Then I hugged her again.

"Thank you." I whispered to her as she wrapped her hands around my waist. Raven really was a good friend, and an intelligent fighter.

Someone grunting off in the distance brought our attention back to Sean who had severely injured his arm. The three of us ran over to help him. Just as Raven and I reached Alex who was already beside him, there was a blood curdling scream coming from the jet. One like I'd never heard before. My head turned sharply to see what was going on. Wind guy, Angel, and Azazel were all present and accounted for so I didn't worry about the safety of those on the jet, and yet they were still screaming. I did notice something else. Someone among us had flat-lined. I didn't know who it was exactly, but it wasn't a heart rate I was familiar with. So I assumed someone who got knocked down got knocked down a little to hard, or Erik had dealt with Shaw. I sort of hoped it was Shaw because the others weren't so bad. Sheep following the flock.

Back near the jet, Moira and Charles came to join the party just as we had gotten Sean up and were helping him move. The sound of moving metal could be heard so we all looked up. Erik had emerged from the sub wearing the funky helmet. I didn't notice this at first seeing as the main point of focus was directed straight at the dead body he was levitating.

"Today our fighting stops!" He yelled, controlling the body for a time but eventually he let it drop to the ground in one sickening crack. I winced at the sound. I'm no pansy, but I still don't like the idea of a dead body. I recognized the body to be Shaw's. Out in my peripherals I saw his band of mutants approaching their ring leader's corpse.

Erik finally touched ground as well. "Take off your blinders, brothers and sisters! The real enemy is out there." He pointed out to the ships in the water. "I feel their guns moving in the water, their metal, targeting us. Americans, Soviets," He paused, his tone cloaked in darkness. "humans. United in their fear of the unknown. The Neanderthal is running scared my fellow mutants!" He paused his monologue briefly. "Go ahead, Charles, tell me I'm wrong."

Charles placed his fingers on his temple for a moment, his face grew pained before turning to Moira who understood what his look meant and ran off to the wrecked jet.

_There was no way we're getting back on that jet._ Not that I had time to worry about that with the hundreds of missiles coming towards us.

Each ship had sent out their entire payload. Determined to end us. I grabbed Hank's hand in fear. I didn't want to die just then, I really didn't. Not like that. They kept getting closer and closer when, finally, Erik held out a hand and stopped each and every projectile dead in its tracks. I was able to breathe a bit easier, knowing that I wasn't going to die just yet. But when Erik turned them all around to go back at the people who first sent them, my heart went into overdrive. I squeezed my hand tightly around Hank's, causing him to look at me. I wasn't paying much attention to him though. I was getting ready to attack Erik if necessary. And I assumed it was going to be necessary.

Charles finally spoke, though a bit shakier than usual. "You said yourself, we're the better men. This is the time to prove it. There are thousands of men on those ships, good, honest, innocent men!" He paused. "They're _just_ following orders."

I sensed something spike in Erik, something dangerous. "I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again." With a grand gesture, Erik sent the missiles off.

"Erik, release them!" Charles tried to command, to no avail. That's when I decided to take things into my own hands. I barreled at Erik and tackled him to the ground.

"I did _not_ risk my last days to save the human race just to have _you _try and kill them all over again!" I yelled as I punched him several times in the face. My knuckles split open several times as they connected with his helmet as I tried to beat him senseless.

Beneath me, Erik struggled. "I don't want to hurt you! Don't make me!" He threatened before elbowing me in the face and continuing to send off the missiles. I clutched my throbbing nose and saw the others try to approach. "Stand back!" He yelled as he used the metal of their suits to send them flying back, all except for Raven. When I continued to fight him the best way that I could, kneeing him in the gut and groin, he growled through clenched teeth. "That's enough!"

"Stop doing this, Erik!" I finished with a yell. He brought up a fist and punched me right in the face. Me being successfully out for the count, Charles came to my side. He helped me stand when I heard Moira's gun start to go off. She fired several rounds, each of which was deflected by the metal controlling mutant, and then I heard a noise of pure agony and the person trying to help me was, essentially, shot in the back.

"Charles?" I barely audited, not even realizing that there were two bullets in my arm, as he fell face first into the sand. Erik came rushing to his side, pushing me out of the way, forcing him to abandon the missiles. I would've sighed as I heard them drop straight into the water. But I was too worried

I looked to Erik, who was using his powers to coax the bullet from the wound. "I'm so sorry." Erik said to his injured friend, fighting back tears. Hank and everyone else took a step closer to help when Erik yelled, "I said back off!" They all stopped in their tracks and I returned to Hank's side, struggling to stand and unconsciously holding my bleeding arm.

"You. You did this." Erik seethed.

When strangling noises could be heard I turned around to see Moira being choked by her own necklace, Erik's doing. She made several awful sounds. I know I didn't like her but I didn't want her dead.

"Please..." Charles said quietly. "She didn't do this, Erik... you did."

Erik stopped choking Moira, causing her to collapse to her knees, and looked at Charles. "Us turning on each other, it's what they want. I tried to warn you, Charles. We're brothers, you and I. All of us together, protecting each other." He paused a bit. "We want the same thing." Which, for some reason, made Charles laugh.

"My friend, I'm sorry, but we do not."

The silence that greeted us was monumentally crushing. Charles was in agony from a bullet wound to his back, Erik was nearly in tears, but we had saved the day. We stopped Shaw and everything still was going to shit. It didn't matter. It just didn't seem to matter how hard we tried. It's as if the universe decided to take its dump of the decade on us. And there I was, tears in my eyes. Charles really was like a mother to me, strange as that might sound; it killed me to see him this way. Just as the silence had gotten to the point of being unbearable, Erik beckoned Moira over to him.

"Charles! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" She cried as she ran over to him. Erik stood, allowing her to cradle the injured Charles.

"It's alright, it's alright." Charles assured a blubbering Moira before he grunted in pain.

"This society won't accept us." Erik continued, ignoring what was happening all while motioning to Moira. "We form our own. The humans have played their hand. Now we get ready to play ours." He paused to look at each and every one of us. "Who's with me?" No one looked ready to join him and I was about ready to tell him to shove off when he extended a hand towards Raven. "No more hiding." He said gently to her, more gently than I thought possible. Coming from him.

I didn't think she was going to do it, but she started stumbling over to him. I grabbed her hand at the last minute. "Raven?" I whispered quietly, my tears finally spilling over. She gave my hand a squeeze and gave me a swift kiss before she continued towards Erik, and away from me. At the last minute though she kneeled down next to Charles.

Groaning, Charles spoke to her. "You- you should go with him. It's what you want."

_No! Tell her to stay!_

"You promised me you would never read my mind." She said only slightly playfully.

Charles made a noise that could have been a chuckle. "I know. I promised you a great many things, I'm afraid. I'm sorry." He then grabbed her hand and kissed it. Not being able to take it anymore I pressed my forehead against Hank's shoulder. He started rubbing my back as I cried.

"Take care of him." I looked up at Raven taking Erik's outstretched hand. To our right, Shaw's band of mutants all gathered at Erik's side as well. Making them Erik's band now."And, Beast," Raven called to Hank, smiling, "never forget. Mutant and proud."

With those last words, they were gone. We took that opportunity to run over to Charles. "Help me out, come on!" Moira said as she tried to get Charles up. "I'm gonna get you to a hospital."

Charles clung to Hank and tried to stand but I think it proved too painful as he made one terribly painful noise. "Wait, Charles. Charles don't move okay?" Hank asked of him.

"I won't. I ca- actually I ca... I ca... I can't... I can't feel my legs." Charles informed us.

"What?" Moira asked in disbelief.

"I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs." Charles continued. It seemed he was in about as much shock as the rest of us. Alex was looking around, possibly for a way back home because we didn't have one on the island. And you know what was the most terrible thing out of all of this? I could feel my clock getting ready to stop. It was finally time. But there was one more thing I could do for the people I loved.

I got up close to Charles. "Charles, we need to get you to a hospital. I want you to read my mind." He did so and his eyes widened.

'_You can't... Max, we can get home another way_.' He said to me.

'_What if there's a chance to repair the damage done and you miss it because you couldn't get to a hospital right_ away?' I asked quietly, nervously. '_I'm doing this Charles, and I'm leaving it up to you and Alex to explain everything_.' I replied.

I grabbed ahold of Alex's hand and whispered, "It's time." At first he didn't seem to understand. But the look that formed on his face of pure despair told me that he got it. I squeezed and felt a couple more tears drip off of my chin.

Slowly I allowed the electricity to take over me again. "Everyone, make sure you've got your gloves on and hold onto me. We're going on the ride of a lifetime." They did as I instructed and I became the substance that I had once considered my gift. Something that was now my ultimate curse. I recalled all of the memories I made with the people around me. All of the laughs, fights, tears, training, all of it. And I realized that more than anything I didn't want to have to do this, but I did. With great power comes great responsibility, right? I would've chuckled but I didn't trust my voice. I looked to them, tears freely streaming down my cheeks, and I smiled.

"Whatever you do kiddies, don't let go."

I concentrated on the mansion, on my home, and with a surge we were zipping through space and time to get there. We landed shortly after, everyone a little uneasy but safe all the safe. I looked around to see that everyone was there... everyone except for me. The looks of confusion on Sean's and Hank's face, the tears that were slowly falling from Alex's eyes as he dug his knuckles into the dirt, that look of sadness that Charles always gave me. I couldn't cry anymore, but I desperately wanted too. I would never see those faces again. Smiling sadly, I felt myself splitting apart.

_Goodbye, everyone._

My name is Maxine Edith Dugen-Fuller. I am a sister, a daughter, an army brat, a lover, and a fighter. I have known hardships and I have known kindness. And I've smiled and cried through both with my head held high. I have made a difference in the history of everyone I know, and I saved countless lives. Men and women can return home to their families. I sacrificed everything for my country and even though I wish that everything had played out differently, I would never have changed any of it for the world. Trying to save a friend, I brought this upon myself. I have to live with that decision. A decision I would never take back, even knowing what I do right now. Above all, I wish I could've said goodbye to everyone. I wish I could explain it in a way they could understand. I'll just have to leave that to my two capable friends since there's nothing more here for me. Because I'm not even here anymore. I am nothing but dust in the wind. But my name is Maxine Edith Dugen-Fuller, I fought adversaries much stronger than myself, alongside mutants and humans, I prevented World War III. I sacrificed my last breath for those I love. I could control electricity from a young age. I was recruited by two creeps in trenchcoats. I became something more. I became an X-Men.

And this is my story.

**The End.**


	22. Epilogue

**Perfect Synergy: An Epilogue**

"_In death, there is life._" - Unknown

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><p>'<em>-it is five years later and I still love her as much as I did they day she told me she loved me despite my gruesome appearance. Despite everything I said to the contrary. She was a fighter, a lover, a friend, and she affected all that she encountered in more ways than I think she expected. She was pure of heart, foul of mouth, and forever of loyalty. Thanks to her we have courage to fight our fight and protect the human race while we do. She taught us not to compromise. Take what you're given and make the best of it. Don't sink down to the enemy's level, do not cower. Just as she never did. A girl who risked everything and gained absolutely nothing. It's people like her that can truly change the hearts of others. And I feel selfish, missing her every day. Since she lived for much more than just herself, it's only natural she died for everyone else. She left this world fighting, as she would have wanted.<em>

'_Still, some say that during thunderstorms a girl with black hair and yellow eyes can be seen between lightning strikes. At first, I had hope hearing this. Thinking she could still be out there. I have learned to disregard these rumors. Nothing good comes from lingering on the past. And while she might not be out there physically, she remains with everyone she saved, everyone she left behind. But one thing that I know for sure, she is Synergy. And Synergy never dies_.'

"Finished." Hank McCoy sighs in relief as he finishes the lengthy biography on the woman he loved. Thanks to Charles, Alex, and every member of her family, he was able to document her first steps to her last sacrifice. He looks at the picture of her that her mother gave to him from only a year prior to her demise. Smiling brightly up at the camera, he wonders what she was like. She's completely radiant to him and no other woman could ever hope to replace her in his heart. A storm that crashed over him and changed his life forever.

It's storming outside when he finishes it, the only proof that she had left this world. A perfect scenario for his perfect girl. He couldn't have asked for more.

There comes a knock at his door and a young girl with white hair and dark skin opens it. "Professor?"

Hank smiles when he sees her. "Ororo, what are you doing up at this hour?" He gazes at his watch. "It's past midnight."

She nods. "I know, but there's something amiss in the clouds and I can't get myself to calm down enough to fall asleep." She explains, tightening her grip on the blanket she has wrapped around her.

"Let's go get you a glass of warm milk, that should help." Hank promises the girl with a kind smile. Ororo smiles back at him as they leave the room. Now, if only Hank had looked out the window he would've seen a silhouette of a girl off in the not-so-far distance. A girl he had grown to love. A girl thought to only appear in a thunderstorm between lightning strikes. Tonight, she struck ground in Westchester. Tonight, she takes her first breath in years. Tonight, a girl comes back from the dead.

Tonight, I live again.


	23. Author's Note

**BEFORE YOU READ, BE WELL AWARE THAT THERE IS BOTH A FICLET BASED IN THE _PERFECT SYNERGY _UNIVERSE AND A DIRECT SEQUEL. SO CALLED _PERFECT HAVOK _AND _ETERNAL SYNERGY _RESPECTIVELY. THE FICLET IS NOT ESSENTIAL FOR YOU TO FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE PLOT BUT IT TIES UP SOME LOOSE ENDS, WARMS SOME HEARTS, ALL THAT HOOEY. AND _PERFECT BEAST_, A ONE-SHOT THAT TAKES PLACE DURING CHAPTER 13 FROM HANK'S PERSPECTIVE IS UP AND RUNNING IF YOU SO WISH TO READ IT. ALSO THERE IS _DARK SYNERGY _AND _FROZEN SYNERGY_, TAKING PLACE AFTER _ETERNAL SYNERGY._ PLEASE READ AND ENJOY.**

**And, without further ado, here's the sign-off for _Perfect Synergy_ (more affectionately known as _P. Synergy_).**

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Hello everyone, I thought to take the time to let you all know how much I appreciate everything you've done as readers. The reviews, the favourites, the story alerts, the author alerts, the favourite authors, all of it. You have been wonderful and I hope you all enjoyed my story, even the tragic ending. Let me explain some things I changed around in the end. I had Max tackle Erik because I thought it sort of weird for Charles to. I also included Riptide in the battle because I thought he would make a great opponent to Max. Now, onto my thanks.

I want to thank BlowUpKarzahini for being here with me from the beginning. You reviewed my first chapter and remained loyal to my story for several chapters. Your reviews always lightened up my day and made me get cracking on that next chapter ASAP. For that, I thank you.

To orcafan1 I also thank for the review and for enjoying my story. I didn't hear from you after Chapter 3 or 4 so I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story as well.

Oh BennyG. You started off as a guest and you finally made your own account but I still appreciate all the reviews you gave me even if all it was to demand I upload the next chapter. Believe it or not, it made me want to upload that much faster.

Next is joannacamilley for your review. Didn't see you after Chapter 4 but I'm happy you took the time to submit a review anyway. The little things really do count, even to a young, inexperienced, author like myself.

Sarah-Leigh-Black. Awesome.

I thank evans 4 life even though your username is the name of some creep who stalked me because you took the time to ask me to upload more.

ONE BIG SHOUT OUT TO OWLSCRATCH, A FANTASTIC WRITER OF ONE OF MY FAVOURITE X-MEN FICS, WHO REVIEWED MY LAST FEW CHAPTERS WITH SUCH ELOQUENCE I THOUGHT SHE WAS TRYING TO WRITE ME AN ESSAY EACH TIME SHE REVIEWED. Each time you wrote me a review I had to get my butt off my e-mail and drag myself onto the site so I could read it all. Honestly, you made me want to write when I thought no one liked my story, when a parody of mine was getting mad reviews and followings and I thought a story of substance was the equivalent of a fart coming out of my ass. You made me SQUEE with joy each time I saw you review and I'm so utterly happy you loved Max (almost) as much as I did. You seemed to like everything I did with the whole shabang and I thank you for it! You are an awesome person who only deserves the love of the people around her. LIVE LONG AND PROSPER.

Up next is Loki's Liz for loving my character (she/he said so themselves, go look). Trust me, when I thought up a kick ass tomboy to love the nerdy Hank I had no idea what I was getting into. I cried like a baby during the last quarter of the last chapter. Max is so lovable and crazy that she almost seems real to me (scratching out the fact that she talks to me. Weird).

I want to thank adell's black fire who asked me to keep the updates coming and by golly, that's what I did. I hope your happy! I mean that sincerely.

Auluna. Yes, I want to thank you for kicking my butt where I needed it. We got into a bit of a spat but I think we both came out unscathed. Thank you for speaking your mind when you saw something you thought wasn't right, every writer needs that too, constructive criticism (though I made a big deal out of it and went all 4 year old on you). And, again, thank you for it.

EvilPurpleCookieMenkeyPonguin (mouthful), I think you've reviewed another one of my stories because I couldn't find you in the earlier ones and I've definitely seen your name before! I haven't read any of your stories... I'm not a big Harry Potter (fanfic) reader, but I'm definitely a Harry Potter writer so I don't know how that makes sense. ANYWAYS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEW, MUCH LOVE.

That's all for my reviewers. I also thank all of you who have added this story to your alerts or your favourites and I especially want to thank those of you who have added me to you Author alerts! Wow! My other two stories are CRAP. Then there's The Rules which got a huge buzz because it was Avengers and everyone was dying to see an Avengers story.

Next I want to take the time to give you Max.

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><p><strong>Maxine Edith Dugen-Fuller<strong>

Aliases: Max, Synergy

Birthday: October 26th, 1945

Powers: Electrical field manipulation, electrokinetic, can turn into electricity, glows (when charged)

Personality: Stubborn, neurotic, sacrificing, funny, loyal, light-hearted, honest, playful, loving, protective, genuine, devious, mischievous.

Physical Appearance: Black, waist length, hair, brown eyes (turn yellow when she's super super charged), tall, athletic build, absolutely no breasts

Flaws: Too impulsive (hurts herself, a lot), sacrificing (sacrifices what she can't give), emotionally unsound, smokes, drinks, smokes weed every now and then, has a hard time forming lasting relationships

Occupation: Army Brat

Mother: Alexandra Fuller

Father: Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugen (look him up)

Siblings: Lucas Gregory Dugen (25), Devin Nicholas Dugen (23), Cole Robert Dugen (20), Collin Steven Dugen (19), Gabe Jones Dugen-Fuller (8, deceased since 1954), Scott Dugen-Fuller (13, adopted)

Sexual Preference: Bi-Curious (girl crushes on Raven)

Godfather: Steve Rogers (briefly, deceased), Gabe Jones (deceased)

Hand Dominance: Left

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><p>That's all I got, guys. Thank you for sticking through my story and I hope you will venture over to <em>Eternal Synergy<em> and _Perfect Havok_ to continue with Max's Saga. I love you all, just letting you know. :)

xoxo, Momma


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